Microsoft Poised to Sit Out TV’s Upfront Market (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe TV upfront market doesn’t appear to compute for Microsoft.The technology giant has been telling TV networks and media buyers that it intends to bypass TV’s annual haggle for commercial inventory, according to four executives familiar with recent discussions.

The company behind such products and services as Windows, LinkedIn, the Halo video games and Surface tablets instead favors taking its chances in what is known as TV’s “scatter” market, the purchase of ad time bought closer to run date.Microsoft seems to feel that it needs to be cautious in trying to sell consumers expensive hardware and other tech goods at a time when the stock market is churning, according to two of these executives, and when people may be fretting about loosening their purse strings.

Each year, as part of the upfront, U.S. TV networks try to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory in advance, and advertisers who do so can lock in prices in case they rise later in the year.

A representative for Microsoft said the company declined to comment.Microsoft spent around $294.8 million on TV advertising in 2021, according to Kantar, a tracker of ad spending.