Roku’s Upfront: No Party, No Problem

Advertisers visit Roku City (Image courtesy of Roku)

Streaming has eroded big chunks of the traditional television business, but it looks like one of TV’s traditions, the annual upfront market, will survive another year.

What effect the uncertain (to say the least) economy will have on the ad market, well that may be another story.

There have always been two aspects to the upfronts: the gala programming presentations and extravagant parties in May and the tedious late-night, cold-pizza fueled negotiations between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

As cable rose, some networks – ESPN, Turner, Discovery – decided to crash the upfront party, hoping for more attention and ad dollars from media buyers. As streaming took over (and showed more and more commercials) Hulu, YouTube, Amazon and Netflix flipped the script.

This year Roku decided to forgo its annual upfront (or NewFront) event. But it is still hoping for a deep drink from the dollars in the upfront oceans.

“Roku is still very much participating in the upfront,” Jordan Rost, head of ad marketing at Roku, told TVREV.

“Our thinking here was that Roku can be a lot of different things to a lot of different constituents, and our partners are increasingly asking us to curate all of those different opportunities that are going to help them grow their clients’ business and grow their own business in the process,” Rost said.

Roku will be having a series of meetings with what he called a “bespoke and tailored approach.” For example, Roku talks with OMG about sharing data so the agency can produce better plans, while with OMG, Roku is helping optimize and measure lower funnel outcomes.

The upfront ad market is essentially a future market. Marketers that know they will need commercials during the next TV year. When there were just three broadcast networks, those commercials were scarce, especially top rated shows during key parts of the year, so there was a rush to get money down.

Now, there are hundreds of streaming channels and a growing proportion of ads are being bought programmatically based on audiences.

The upfront market remains important because that’s where the money is. But for Roku, with its streaming-first mentality, there are other reasons for closing deals in the upfront.

“The upfront planning process is still critical to our collective success, both on the buy and the sell side,” said Rost. “Our shifting approach to the event that is the upfront is really a reflection of that business relationship changing to be far less transactional, more strategic. So instead of being primarily focused on CPMs, there are more strategic discussions about data integrations and new product testing.”

When it comes to those items, Rost says Roku is putting its money where its mouth is, investing with partners to develop fresh opportunities and capabilities.

For example, Roku has been working with Publicis and Hello Sunshine to develop Women’s Sports Now, a talk show on The Roku Channel that has Miller Lite as a launch partner.

Roku is also working with GroupM, an early adopter of Roku’s work with iSpot aimed at better understanding reach and frequency across the TV landscape.

There was also the launch of the Roku Data Cloud, designed to make it easier for buyers and clients to interact with Roku’s data in a privacy compliant manner.

Rost notes that Roku’s data about its users is 100% authenticated. “We know who our users are and so we can provide better relevant experiences and more target and efficient advertising,” he said.

To be sure, Roku offers original programming, but its approach is more platform oriented and audience centric.

“We can be a lot more flexible because we're not so beholden to any one particular program or moment,” Rost said. “We can make prime time out of any moment in your calendar.”

Rost says Roku users log on 25 days a month, compared to eight to 10 days for other streaming services.

“Our daily habit that we’ve formed with our users gives us a lot more ability to move things around and help marketers deliver the flexibility and the performance-oriented approaches they're really looking for right now.”

One exception is in the wide world of sports, especially the biggest moments, like the Olympics or Super Bowl. More viewers are streaming those events, and a large share of their streaming experience starts with turning on a Roku device.

What else is new at Roku? Rost says Roku is looking to ramp up its commerce capabilities. It has already been working with retailers including Instacart and Walmart in deals that deliver products to viewers and data to marketers.

“At at the end of the day, we're still going to use this as a moment to push towards more performance oriented television. That is a big focus for us this year, to really help advertisers know and trust that every investment that they make within the connected television environment is going to deliver outsized return for them,” Rost said.

As you might have heard, this year’s upfront is playing out against the backdrop of great economic uncertainty, which makes forecasting a problem.

“It's anyone's guess where the markets are going to go,” Rost says. “But the thing that we've heard through all of that from buyers is a desire for their investments to pay off and deliver in real business outcomes. And so more than anything, I think this moment is an opportunity for brands to build their performance TV playbook and potentially really use this as a moment to build new habits and ultimately deliver a more performance oriented television strategy, rooted in platforms, rooted in data and rooted in the audience appeals they can make.”

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Consumers have begun to declutter their video libraries, in an effort to simplify their entertainment experiences, according to Q4 2024 Video Trends Report from TiVo.

TiVo found that consumers decreased their entertainment spending nearly $20 yearover-year, with the average number of services used declining from 11.1 to 9.9. This is the first time since 2021 that the average monthly entertainment spend dropped below $160.

Among those who canceled a subscription video on demand service within the last 6 months, 17% said they did so because they “weren’t using it enough,” or because the service raised its prices (16.9%).

Consumers are also more tolerant of ads on streaming service and are proritizing access to deeper content libraries over a commercial-free viewing experience. If they’re going to watch ads, viewers prefer ads that are personalized.

“We are seeing a shift in consumer priorities as they look for ways to reduce the number of services they use without sacrificing access to quality content,” said Geir Skaaden, chief product and services officer at TiVo’s parent company Xperi. “As consumers face economic uncertainty there will be increased pressure on the entertainment industry to deliver quality content and keep users engaged for long periods of time.

Other ticbits from Tivo: : In-car entertainment viewing increased by six percent year-over-year. TiVo also found that 34.6% of respondents shared a SVOD password for at least one service.

The TiVo Video Trends Report surveyed 4,490 adults 18 and older living in the U.S. and Canada during the fourth quarter of 2024

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Under a deal announcer by commerce data platform Attain and Samba TV, Attain customers can access granular insights into the effectiveness of linear TV alongside digital media investments through a single, unified partner.

“Marketers have long struggled to quantify the real impact of linear TV on business outcomes,” said Attain CEO and Co-founder Brian Mandelbaum. “With our new integration with Samba TV and their unparalleled footprint of first-party data, we’re removing that blind spot and delivering a holistic view of performance that ties brand-building efforts directly to sales results. It’s a breakthrough for marketers who demand accountability, efficiency, and clarity from every dollar they spend.”

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DirecTV, which is trying to back away from the satellite TV business and push into streaming, and is launching a new TV commercial featuring Major League Baseball players delivering the no satellite, no satellite dish message “Nothing On Your Roof.”

The commercial features Dodger Dustin May, Cub Dansby Swanson and Brewer Christian Yelich in a barber shop, asking if they knew that “you can get DirecTV with nothing on the roof?”

They are inspired to shave the top of their noggins (nothing on the roof, get it?).

The spot then launches into a rendition of Take Me Out To the Bald Game.

DirecTV, which promotes having a lot of sports content, started the campaign last year with commercials featuring tight end George Kittle of the 49ers.

“The start of baseball season is upon us, and we’re excited to continue pushing the boundaries with unique and dynamic storylines that play out in compelling content showcasing the key features and benefits DirecTV delivers to customers,” said Kelly Jo Sands, senior VP at DirecTV. “By tapping into the star power of Dustin May, Christian Yelich, and Dansby Swanson – paired with the history and energy of iconic baseball cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Milwaukee – DirecTV delivers a bold, memorable message cementing our sports leadership and satellite-free streaming offerings in a way that’s creative, memorable and impactful.”