'You can’t spell Netflix without NFL'

Streaming takes over the upfronts with Netflix’s NFL news and the Great Rebundling

By Ilyse Liffreing

• Streaming became a larger force at the upfronts this year, with Amazon and Netflix presenting to advertisers and NBCUniversal, Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery giving significant time to streaming services.
• Live sports, like Netflix’s announcement of streaming Christmas Day NFL games, celebs, bundling and transparency were major themes.

?? Lightbulb moment

“Netflix is the biggest subscription?streamer and the NFL is the most viewed league, so this partnership, on Christmas, is?the?blockbuster digital sports rights deal of the year, a year in which streaming sports broke through.”?

— Ross Benes, senior analyst, eMarketer

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A new study aims to convince advertisers that the news is brand-safe

By Travis Clark

• A report?published on Wednesday by Stagwell tested ads placed next to various news topics and surveyed nearly 50,000 U.S. adults on reputational metrics like purchase intent, trustworthiness and more. It found little for brands to be concerned about.
• During Stagwell’s first Future of News Summit the same day, Shenan Reed, global chief media officer at General Motors, said that the data “debunks” some assumptions advertisers may have had about the news business.

?? Lightbulb moment

“Stagwell’s new research demonstrates that partners can confidently and safely place advertisements alongside news coverage. In fact, it shows that it’s a smart investment with clear positive returns.”

— Maggie Milnamow, chief revenue officer at Business Insider and senior vice president of Axel Springer

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Turning the vicious cycle of news and advertising into a virtuous one

By Mark Penn, CEO, Stagwell

• The business model for news journalism has been hurt by misconceptions of brand safety concerning ads placed in proximity to news.
• New research by Stagwell published in the?Future of News: News Advertising Study?dispels this myth and finds that Americans do not judge brands based on what news stories their ads appear next to.

?? Lightbulb moment

“Conventional wisdom suggests that sports and entertainment are better places for advertising than news. Brands think there is less downside in those positive environments — but the opposite is true too. There is less upside. Sports and entertainment are already darlings for brand advertising.”

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NBCUniversal’s Alison Levin on strategic audience buying, the power of brand storytelling and the Paris Olympics

• NBCUniversal Ad President Alison Levin joins?The Current Podcast?to talk upfronts, strategic audiences, brand storytelling and the Paris Olympics.
• She says clients are asking about buying “strategic audiences” during this upfront season, while brands want to align their storytelling around “big content moments.”

?? Lightbulb moment

“We believe deeply in the power of programmatic and strategic audience buying, and for brands, programmatic access really democratizes access to these incredible events.”

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