Upfronts 2026: Why accountability is top of mind for agencies

Agency leaders are spilling their top priorities for this upfront cycle ahead of network presentations next month.

Six agency investment leads told The Current that increased optimism for streaming, marked by live sports’ migration to the space, as well as the push for closed-loop measurement, are defining this year’s upfront negotiations.

“We have been focused on streaming for years, but what is different now about that focus is the maturation of streaming, how we need to accelerate our approach to planning and what that means in terms of the value and outcomes we can deliver our clients,” Katie Klein, chief investment officer at Omnicom Media, told The Current.

A major part of that maturation is the diversity of content flooding streaming platforms, from sports packages and podcasts to creators and the expanding free streaming landscape.

As such, the conversation is shifting from whether to even invest in streaming to “how much and where it will drive the most impact,” said Stephanie Stanczak, vice president of media investments at Ocean Media.

Live sports are leading the charge

Live sports are the crown jewel of this evolution, and TV fragmentation is the main driver for buyers. Live games are one of the only unifiers for mass audiences when there’s so much content across a slew of platforms vying for viewers’ attention.

“Sports is the one area that’s going to really garner guaranteed immediate reach,” said Samantha Rose, who leads Horizon Media’s upfront strategy as its executive vice president and head of integrated investment and programmatic. That power also means inventory is hard to find on the scatter market, she said.

Disney is expected to bring a competitive sports portfolio to the table, including the inaugural Super Bowl on ESPN (streamed on the ESPN app), the College Football National Championship and the NBA Finals, as well as the Grammys and the Academy Awards.

Netflix, Amazon and YouTube’s growing sports ambitions are changing the calculus for media buyers’ upfront plans, according to Wpromote Vice President of Media Investment Deanna Cullen.

Horizon Media’s Rose added that programmatic ad slots during games are increasingly available within upfront buys.

“[That’s] obviously really interesting to make that area a biddable environment, which hasn’t really existed before,” Rose said.

Measuring TV’s full impact

While live sports can grant buyers immediate, mass reach, it’s clear that that’s not the only thing the TV upfronts are about anymore.

Every executive The Current spoke to called out that every dollar invested into upfront plans needs to be accountable.

“Our approach to streaming starts with the first dollar planned,” Omnicom’s Klein said.

The holding company recently announced enhancements to its cross-screen video planner that promises to cut down on waste and make frequency more precise. AMC, Disney, Fox, NBCUniversal, Roku, Samsung, Paramount and Amazon will all share first-party viewership data at launch.

“Everything that we do is about the return on investment,” said Gina Lombardo-Negron, vice president and media director at Hawthorne Advertising.

Hawthorne views and measures its video strategy as one fully connected plan, integrating linear TV, streaming and digital video.

“You really need to be able to plan and purchase across the whole ecosystem,” Lombardo-Negron said. “It’s part of a unified investment for us.”

With this 360-degree view, it’s easier to see the true value of the agency’s media, rather than a last-click model, according to Hawthorne’s senior vice president of digital media and strategy, Paul Her-Sturm. The agency is also incorporating predictive modeling, cross-channel influence and the buying halo effect into its measurement strategy.

Tying retail data and TV’s reach together could also be a major win for buyers going forward. Last week, PayPal Ads introduced a new product to help bring closed-loop purchase attribution to connected TV (CTV). Warner Bros. Discovery, Tubi and Spectrum Reach are all launch partners.

“There’s a preference towards the platforms that have retail integration and closed-loop measurement,” Wpromote’s Cullen said, because “you’re getting all addressable data, reach and potentially a closed-loop purchase outcome.”

Outcomes were also the focal point of NewFronts presentations last month, where players in the digital space promised that “performance TV” would deliver measurable results. So the push for accountability will likely continue to shape upfront plans. Outcomes “will become table stakes for everybody,” Cullen said.