Springtime in New York is still the season for a longtime media industry ritual: upfronts.
As the pay-TV universe keeps shrinking, though, so does the once-prolix scale of the upfronts and their teen-age cousin, the NewFronts. Even so, the city still does light up in April and May with a spree of glitzy pitches designed to generate press attention and advertiser interest. Despite the darkening skies of the U.S. economy, with tariffs and other factors unsettling the ad marketplace, the 2025 edition of the upfronts and NewFronts figures to keep the decades-old tradition alive.
Things have technically gotten underway with a handful of happenings, but the main events will fall between May 5 and May 14. (See the full calendar below.) Sinclair, which owns a large local TV station portfolio and the Tennis Channel, is holding an upfront Thursday at Moonlight Studios. E.W. Scripps and AMC Networks hosted live events in April and A+E Global Media a virtual one in March.
The arrival of Amazon’s Prime Video last year as a heavyweight ad seller gave the main week in mid-May a shot of new energy. Ditto with Netflix, though its approach is a bit more bespoke. There has also been some consolidation, especially with companies under pressure to trim their budgets. Paramount Global, whose corporate ancestors CBS and Viacom hosted some of the most lavish bashes just a few years ago, now convenes a slate of smaller client dinners, including in L.A. and Chicago. Likewise, The CW under new owner Nexstar has also withdrawn from the big stage amid major cost-cutting, preferring to transact outside the spotlight.
The NewFronts, a four-day span in early May, also has contracted from the two-week blitz of pre-Covid times. As some big names step back, though, newer players are entering the arena. While perennials like Condé Nast, Snap and the New York Times Co. are back, along with recent standouts like TikTok and Meta, Roku is skipping it this year and Amazon is delivering only a 10-minute, tech-focused presentation. Google, whose YouTube Brandcast is an annual highlight of the main upfronts week, exerts such influence in the ad business now that it will stage two separate NewFronts events focused on different capabilities and content. That supersized presence will come soon after a judge’s ruling that the tech giant maintained an ad tech monopoly, violating federal antitrust rules.
Looking to keep tabs on all the action? Below are dates, times and venues through Brandcast, which will cap off the season May 14. And because the quest for ad dollars never stops, most upfronts and NewFronts presenters will continue their outreach to buyers in just a few weeks’ time along the Riviera at Cannes Lions in June. No rest for the sizzle-reel weary.
NewFronts
Monday, May 5
11:30 a.m. – Google (Pier 57)
2 p.m. – Vizio (Penn 2)
4:30 p.m. – LG Ad Solutions (private event)
7 p.m. – LinkedIn (private event)
Tuesday, May 6
9 a.m. – T-Mobile Advertising (Moonlight Studios)
11:30 a.m. – Samsung Ads (IAC Building)
2 p.m. – Tubi (Center415)
4:30 p.m. – TikTok (Iron23)
6 p.m. – Yahoo! (Peak)
Wednesday, May 7
All day – IAB Stage, Convene Brookfield Place (Nielsen, 9:20 a.m.; Amazon Ads, 9:30 a.m.; ReachTV, 9:45 a.m.; Wurl, 10:05 a.m.; A&E Global Media, 10:15 a.m.; CheckedUp, 11:10 a.m.; Teads, 11:20 a.m.; Estrella MediaCo, 11:35 a.m.; Comscore, 11:55 a.m.; Revry, 12:05 p.m.; Upwave, 1:35 p.m.; My Code, 1:50 p.m.; DoubleVerify, 2:10 p.m.; Dr. Phil’s MeritTV, 2:30 p.m.; LatiNation, 2:50 p.m.; Future Today, 3:45 p.m.; Cadent + AdTheorent, 4:10 p.m.; Mirror Digital, 4:30 p.m.; Infillion, 4:40 p.m.)
7 p.m. – Snap Inc (Pier 36)
Thursday, May 8
9 a.m. – The New York Times (Times Center)
11:30 a.m. – Condé Nast
2 p.m. – Meta (Palladium Times Square)
4:30 p.m. – YouTube (Pier 57)
Broadcast / Streaming Upfronts
Monday, May 12
10:30 a.m. – NBCUniversal (Radio City Music Hall)
4 p.m. – Fox (Hammerstein Ballroom)
6:30 p.m. – Amazon (Beacon Theatre)
Tuesday, May 13
11:30 a.m. – TelevisaUnivision (Hall des Lumières)
4 p.m. – Disney (North Javits Center)
Wednesday, May 14
10 a.m. – Warner Bros Discovery (Theater at Madison Square Garden)
2 p.m. – Netflix (Perelman Performing Arts Center)
5:30 p.m. – YouTube Brandcast (Lincoln Center)
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