Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorYouTube wants to pull in even more dollars from TV ad budgets — and this year, for the first time, the streaming giant is holding its annual sales pitch event for marketers the same week as TV’s upfronts.The video platform is holding YouTube Brandcast during the week of the television upfronts.
The live show is scheduled for Tuesday, May 17, starting at 8 p.m. ET in New York City, and YouTube says the event will feature top creators and music talent.YouTube has not secured a venue in the Big Apple yet, but it expects to host in-person attendees and will livestream Brandcast as well.Also May 17, Discovery — which may be officially part of WarnerMedia by then — has planned its upfront event for the morning, while Disney’s (encompassing ABC and Hulu) is set for that afternoon.
For more than a decade, YouTube had been an anchor tenant (and co-founder) of the Digital Content NewFronts, the upfront-style marketing series hosted by digital platforms and managed by the IAB.
YouTube says it will still be the principal sponsor of the IAB’s NewFronts. It’s holding an event in partnership with MediaLink on Monday, May 2, featuring “industry leaders and creators discussing the future of content and the role of the creator economy.”YouTube’s move to crash the TV upfronts is “a harbinger of what is going on in our industry today,” said Debbie Weinstein, VP, global solutions, YouTube. “We have more advertisers reaching consumers in a streaming environment… We think it’s the right time for us to bridge the worlds of linear and digital television.”Advertisers “want to hear from YouTube at the same time they’re hearing from other TV networks,” Weinstein said about the Brandcast timing change.
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