
Instead of a single big presentation--virtual or otherwise--Disney Advertising Sales is planning to use a series of 30-minute roadshow videos to make its pitch to media buyers and clients.
Disney's traditional Lincoln Center event, along with the other big upfront extravaganzas, were wiped out by the Coronavirus, which ruled out large gatherings and now has most media people working from home.
Rita Ferro
Disney is planning seven presentations during the weeks of May 25 and June 1--one for each of the six big media agency holding companies and one for clients that deal directly with Disney or work through smaller agencies.
The presentations will be tailored to each of the agencies, with talent from Disney programming acknowledging the buyer and clients in the room.
We want to make it a little bit more personal and intimate in terms of the conversation, said Rita Ferro, president of Disney Ad Sales.
The presentations will focus on how Disney created client solutions and will address how Disney worked with clients during the crisis and plans for continuing to grow partnerships, Ferro said.
Disney's Hulu unit will be a part of the presentations. Hulu will also have presentation during the Digital Content NewFronts the week of June 22.
Ferro at Disneys upfront last year.
Disney acquired control of Hulu last year and Hulu's head of ad sales, Peter Naylor left Hulu in April.
Ferro said that Hulu will be a part of clients ad packages in this year's upfront. We're going to do one deal, she said. We're looking at ways the Disney side can add value to how Hulu goes to market and really taking advantage of the innovative ad products and learnings on the Hulu said to help our addressable business on the Disney side.
Streaming has become a hot property, and Hulu is a leader in the ad supported streaming space, but Ferro sees clients making one premium video buy across all screens, which is good considering the quality and scale of Disney's content and distribution on all platforms. With Hulu, 35% to 40% of Disney's inventory is addressable, she notes.
How and when this year's upfront negotiations will take place are still to be determined.
I think the key this year is going to be flexibility in every sense of the word, Ferro said.
In terms of timing, Ferro noted that some companies are doing very well, and will want to move aggressively. We need to be able to do that now and move quickly, she said.
Other companies will need a little bit more time to figure out what the back half of the year looks like for them. We'll be ready whenever they are, she said.
And some will want to do calendar deals that run from January through December, instead of the broadcast year, which starts with the fourth quarter.
If that's what works for them, we'll be available to do that, said she. We just need to have that open-mindedness and flexibility.
Right now, advertisers are considering whether or not to exercise their options not to buy the third-quarter advertising they committed to buy in the last upfront. Ferro said clients are already asking till the end of the month to exercise those options, and Disney is granting those postponements. So far, options have been better than expected, but it's still early, she said.
There was clearly a rush to adjust campaigns and schedules and everything at the beginning of all of this six to eight weeks ago. I think what you see now is clients trying to re-engage in terms of what their business looks like as things are starting to turn on, she said.
Some clients that moved out of the second quarter early in the crisis are looking to come back, she added.
Disney can certainly sympathize with businesses that have been affected by the pandemic. Disney's first quarter earnings were pounded as its parks and movie business were shut down by the virus. I understand holistically as a media partner because I sit in a company that's been highly disrupted. We understand what they're dealing with because we're dealing with it too, Ferro said.
In some ways the innovations that companies made to keep their businesses afloat during the crisis--including using more real-time data and shortening supply chains, has Ferro encouraged. I'm excited about what the future is going to be, but I'm not closing my eyes to the hard reality of what the impact has been to our clients.
Will this year's approach to the upfront mean a different way of doing business next year? Ferro said it was too early to speculate.
We're always open to any opportunity to look at things differently, she said.
But Ferro noted that clients spend a lot of their ad dollars on sports and with NFL and college football starting in the fall, the traditional upfront schedule might give clients a good opportunity to look at the sports budgets in the context of their overall marketing plans.
Most recent headlines
13/03/2025
(L-R) Stephanie Suganami, Tatanka Means, John Malkovich, Ayo Edebiri, and Juliette Lewis attend the premiere of Opus at Eccles Theatre in Park City. (Photo by...
13/03/2025
Spotify took center stage at the London Book Fair this week, reaffirming our commitment to the audiobook market and showcasing our impact on the publishing indu...
13/03/2025
At Spotify, we work every day to lift up new voices, giving creators the opportunity to live off their art. Through Spotify Audiobooks, our in-house publishing ...
13/03/2025
Every time airborne law enforcement (ALE) teams fly, they expect their equipment to perform. Whether airborne units are conducting support for ground teams, bor...
13/03/2025
Sunday February 9 saw the annual return of the US' biggest television event, the Super Bowl LIX. Jamie McCombs, Fox Sports Audio Consultant / Sr. Audio capt...
13/03/2025
On Sunday March 2, stars across the film industry gathered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the 97th Academy Awards. Production Sound Mixer Paul Sandweis...
13/03/2025
WUPPERTAL, Germany Riedel Communications will feature its new StageLink family of smart edge devices, Smart Audio and Mixing Engine (SAME) and Virtual Smart Pan...
13/03/2025
TAG Video Systems and Harmonic Partner to Deliver Enhanced Real-Time Monitoring ...
13/03/2025
DigitalGlue Invites NAB Visitors to Experience New Features in Managed Storage P...
13/03/2025
FOR-A America Theme - Connecting the Present, Building the Future - Comes to Lif...
13/03/2025
CTIA, the wireless industry association, has named former FCC Chairman Aji Pai as its President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1. He replaces Mere...
13/03/2025
he National Association of Broadcasters is urging the FCC to end its investigation of that controversial CBS interview with Kamala Harris stating there is no ...
13/03/2025
MIAMI CBS News & Stations continues to expand its use of augmented and virtual reality technologies with the planned launch of an augmented reality/virtual real...
13/03/2025
Srividhya Srinivasan, co-founder and chief customer success & innovation Officer at Amagi, tells TVBEurope how staying ahead of the latest trends is essential f...
13/03/2025
WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency has launched a massive, new deregulatory initiative that could potentially subject virtually all ...
13/03/2025
SUNNYVALE, Calif. SDVI has announced that it has integrated its Rally media supply chain management platform with the Spectra Vail multi-cloud data management s...
13/03/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules to permit Gray Media to acqu...
13/03/2025
TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?...
13/03/2025
Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice The songwriting major sang Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals during the blind auditions.
...
13/03/2025
Roku Debuts NWSL Zone' Within Roku Sports to Spotlight Live Games, Content Feature marks Rokus first women's league-branded zone within service By Bra...
13/03/2025
Pixels, Images, Video, AI - and Us: A Perspective on AI from NDI Inventor Andrew...
13/03/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Lighting Design Group's Steve Brill, Dennis Size ...
13/03/2025
IOC, Comcast NBCU Ink $3B Media-Rights Extension for Olympic Games Through 2036;...
13/03/2025
NCAA March Madness Live Returns with Expanded Availability of MultiView Vertical...
13/03/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Cosm's Devin Poolman on What It Takes To Deliver the Immersive...
13/03/2025
Sky Business, Sky's B2B division, providing connectivity and content to busi...
13/03/2025
Rohde & Schwarz launches R&S NRP140TWG(N) thermal power sensor: A new benchmark ...
13/03/2025
We asked the questions, analysed the answers and now we're excited to share the results of the fifth edition of the ICG Marketing Survey.
Our 2025 survey p...
13/03/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. - March 13, 2025 Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced a breakthrough in video streaming innovation with the launch of new origin capabilitie...
13/03/2025
Haivision Showcases Mission-Critical Video Solutions at SOF Week 2025
Haivision's video wall systems, ISR technology, and DoDIN APL-certified video distri...
13/03/2025
Company Leads the Way with New Software-Based Production Platform, 12G Switcher,...
13/03/2025
A new Apple Immersive concert experience, Metallica, is coming to Apple Vision Pro this Friday, March 14. Filmed in Mexico City during the sold-out second-year ...
13/03/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
Shake your Shamrocks, Patrick Kielty will be...
13/03/2025
This St. Patrick's weekend, RT invites you to celebrate all things Irish, showcasing the very best of Irish sport, entertainment and live coverage from the...
13/03/2025
What's next in AI is at GTC 2025. Not only the technology, but the people and ideas that are pushing AI forward - creating new opportunities, novel solution...
13/03/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
By combining T-Mobile's robust network, Thal...
13/03/2025
Bundle up - GeForce NOW is bringing a flurry of Blizzard titles to its ever-expanding library.
Prepare to weather epic gameplay in the cloud, tackling the genr...
13/03/2025
AI is leveling up the world's most beloved games, as the latest advancements...
13/03/2025
PC game modding is massive, with over 5 billion mods downloaded annually. Mods p...
12/03/2025
O Spotify acaba de lan ar o relat rio Loud & Clear deste ano, uma vis o transpar...
12/03/2025
Spotify acaba de presentar el informe Loud & Clear de este a o, una mirada trans...
12/03/2025
Ramadan, a period of profound spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, is a time for fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Enrich your experience thi...
12/03/2025
Spotify has just unveiled this year's Loud & Clear report, a transparent loo...
12/03/2025
More than 70% of FAST programming has been produced since 2010, according to new Gracenote report
NEW YORK March 12, 2025 Gracenote, the content data busin...
12/03/2025
GEONA, Nev. Independent digital and linear advertising rep firm Viamedia will adopt cloud-based ShowSeeker Pilot as its primary ad campaign and order management...
12/03/2025
BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that Wael Yasin has joined the company as sales director Central Europe....
12/03/2025
LONDON A new study highlights opportunities for shoppable TV and the massive impact online consumer spending is having on the economy, with Omdia predicting tha...
12/03/2025
CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations....
12/03/2025
Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering
Brie Clayton March 12, 2025
0 Comments
High-capacity switch enhances existi...
12/03/2025
DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol
Brie Clayton March 12, 2025
0 Comments
Feature film relies on DaVinci Resolve Studio for ...