Upfront Redux: Perspectives from Beyond the Day-to-Day

Leading up to the Upfront transaction period there was so much conversation again about audience buying advanced data and the need to do business a different wayamp160 These conversations are important interesting and involved however we havenamp8217t seen significant change in how we buy and sell mediaamp160 The common guestimate is that only 510 of total TV dollars were transacted in ways that werenamp8217t available a few years ago While many industries evolve because of consumer behavior technology or other factors electric and hybrid cars music consumption food the TV industry seems to sit largely in idleamp160 Is it because large diversified companies like Disney Comcast and ATampampT see traditional ad dollars as a diminishing percentage of overall company revenueamp160 Is there fear traditional models that make media companies and agencies money might blow up in smokeThere could be an entire host of reasons but I am fairly certain of one thingamp160 Despite being on opposite sides of the fence there is a dire need for all constituencies on the buy and sell side to work together to identify new models or modes for transaction to avoid extinctionamp160 Additionally new types of ads will be critical to enhance the viewer experienceamp160 Small strides are being made such as sixsecond ads and inaction ads during sportsThe death knell for TV as we know it isn39t coming tomorrow but it also isn39t too far from the foreseeable futureamp160 Fox has placed its biggest bet on live television consisting of news and sports and CBS NBC ABC are all moving to subscription streaming modelsamp160 Advertisers while still flocking to traditional TV for lots of good reasons are casting their vote by dramatically increasing their support for Roku have you tracked their stock price and OTT in general and mobileamp160 At Cannes Quibi announced they have secured 100M in ad dollars for their yetlaunched service Whether that number is true or not two agency executives have told me they have at least one client who has made a substantial commitmentThe ultimate decisionmakers have been and continue to beamp160consumers who actively cast their voteamp160 While still a big quotsecretquot because they refuse to acquiesce to the traditional TV standard metrics common sense suggests viewership of Netflix Amazon and Hulu are on a sharp rise while traditional TV ratings are generally and substantially downamp160 Need we discuss cord cuttingamp160 Disney is no longer selling programs to Netflix and the beleaguered streamer is also losing itsamp160most viewed show The Office to NBCU at the end of 2020amp160 ATampampT while willing to cash a 100M check for Friends appears to be heading down the same pathamp160 Maybe this lack of library content will choke Netflix and ads will ultimately appear for survival reasons because their current business model is as unsustainable as that of the broadcast networksamp160 Amazon can do whatever it wants becauseamp160itamp160is a locomotive when it comes to generating cash and as content is not itsamp160sole or even primary business it is under less direct financial pressureIn all the conversations I had with TV execs there was one that lead me to believe that change may be on the horizonamp160 A major agency that refused to pay significant double digit CPMs created a game plan to replace the reach of one broadcast network in primeamp160 When broadcast network inventory is not essential and may be totally dropped from a buy with no concern for loss of reach it means we have come to a turning pointamp160 To me that epitomizes the need for changeamp160 While TV is still the best bet in town in a few more years if doubledigit ratings decreases and doubledigit cpm increases continue it will not be sustainableEvery year the echoes of the end of traditional TV are heard but somehow this timeamp160it seems closer to realityamp160 With so much on the line I strongly suggest that it is time for the major players to get serious to protect their businessamp160 How about a joint investment by media agencies and sellers to fund true consumer research to identify how best to compete in world of eyeball dispersionClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

Click to Make Your 2025 Contribution to Support the MediaVillage Education Foundation

Upfront Redux: Perspectives from Beyond the Day-to-Day

Author

Publish date

Channel

Michael Teicher

Jon Miller | Cofounder Marketo, Engagio | The Gumball Machine is Broken - Rethinking B2B Marketing - By Mike Linton

More Videos:

Click to Make Your 2025 Contribution to Support the MediaVillage Education Foundation

Upfront Redux: Perspectives from Beyond the Day-to-Day

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Michael Teicher

Jon Miller | Cofounder Marketo, Engagio | The Gumball Machine is Broken - Rethinking B2B Marketing - By Mike Linton

The payment was successful

Cookies