The 2025 TV upfronts underscored a seismic shift in the advertising landscape: sports and streaming are the clear winners, while traditional scripted and general entertainment formats saw softer demand.
According to reporting from Digiday and industry executives quoted across multiple outlets, streaming is now expected to account for nearly half of all upfront spend, driven by advertisers’ demand for flexibility, performance data, and measurable outcomes. At the same time, live sports continue to hold their place as one of the last strongholds of linear TV, delivering reliable reach and cultural relevance.
Key Takeaways from the Upfronts
Sports remains king: Fox, NBCU, and Disney all reported strong sports sales, with NBCU’s sports volume up 45%.
Streaming surges: Netflix doubled its commitments, Peacock drove NBCU’s biggest digital upfront ever, and Tubi saw 35% growth year over year.
Flexibility and performance drive spend: Advertisers are reallocating budgets away from long-term, broad-reach commitments and toward programmatic, data-driven, brand-safe inventory.
Substance over spectacle: While upfront events remain star-studded, the focus is shifting toward business impact, accountability, and cross-platform solutions.
What This Means for Brands
For companies, this shift is more than a media buying trend — it’s a call to rethink strategy. To stay competitive:
Invest in streaming-first strategies: Streaming offers more precision and flexibility than traditional buys, with the ability to target audiences and measure outcomes in real time.
Leverage sports for scale and cultural impact: Sports remain one of the few ways to reliably capture mass audiences, making them a strong anchor for brand visibility.
Prioritize adaptability: Advertisers are moving away from locking into year-long commitments. A balanced mix of upfront, scatter, and performance-driven buys ensures agility in uncertain markets.
Think cross-platform: The future belongs to brands that can bridge linear, streaming, and digital performance channels in one unified strategy.
Bottom Line
The upfront marketplace is recalibrating around performance, adaptability, and audience engagement. As Digiday and industry leaders such as Margaret Firalio (Eicoff), Tamara Alesi (Mediaplus North America), and Vikrant Mathur (Future Today) highlight, companies that embrace streaming’s flexibility while leveraging the cultural power of live sports will be best positioned to maximize return on ad spend in the evolving TV ecosystem.