At TV upfronts, AI is in and corporate shuffles are reshaping the lineup

For most media companies, recent upfront presentations — the annual slate of content pitches to advertisers — have been shaped by uncertainty, whether it be macroeconomic or geopolitical. This year, the shifts are coming largely from within.

Media executives told CNBC that while they have been cognizant of global economic issues, like the Middle East conflict and rising cost of fuel as well as the ongoing shake-up and consolidation in the industry, such topics aren’t playing a big part in this year’s discussions with advertisers.

This week, Comcast’s NBCUniversal, Fox Corp., Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery as well as Amazon’s Prime Video and Google’s YouTube will put on shows in New York City in an effort to sell advertisers on their programming for the year ahead. Paramount Skydance wrapped up its series of intimate presentations with agencies and marketers in recent weeks.

Executives said the focus this year has been on grabbing the biggest audiences and on how artificial intelligence is improving data and outcomes. That’s all while the industry continues to navigate large-scale changes among the biggest players — with Paramount and WBD set to merge and NBCUniversal having split off its portfolio of cable networks into the newly formed Versant.

“Overall, advertiser sentiment has remained very positive. I think after Covid and tariffs and wars, clients are used to navigating uncertainty,” said Jeff Collins, Fox’s president of advertising sales, marketing and brand partnerships. “There was some pullback on [ad] spending during Covid, and I think it was premature. I don’t think you’re seeing that anymore.”

Collins’ peers across the media industry echoed that optimism. None of the advertising Heads that CNBC spoke with ahead of the upfront presentations noted cancellations or major pullbacks in spending. At most, advertisers are seeking flexibility in terms, they said.

“To me, that means more of our media has to work harder and be accountable to brands so that when they do look at what’s working in the face of uncertainty we’re showing up at the top of that list,” said Jay Askinasi, chief revenue officer at Paramount.

When it comes to drawing big audiences, that often means live content — particularly sports and other major events — as well as entertainment that captures the zeitgeist.

“Something that definitely happened this year is this focus on live and how well it’s done across everything,” said Mark Marshall, NBCUniversal’s chairman of global advertising and partnerships, referencing both linear and streaming.

Live events on TV, such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, have been pulling bigger and bigger audiences. That will be even more true this coming year, when there are fewer tentpole sporting events.

“Moving forward into this year we don’t have the World Cup or the Olympics, although we do still have the NFL,” said Ryan Gould, co-president of U.S. ad sales at Warner Bros. Discovery. “In our conversations with clients, and in our strategy, it’s really what are the unique, premium, high-valued areas within our portfolio where we can capture some of that share and some of those dollars.”

“The worst thing for the industry would be those dollars kind of go away because they came from somewhere last year,” Gould added. “I think as an industry we’re doing a lot of work to really replace some of those budgets that went to the Olympics and the World Cup.”

Still, sports is sure to remain a big part of the showcase.

NBCUniversal will highlight its Sunday night programming, which includes NFL, NBA and MLB.

Disney, which owns rights to the NFL and a slew of other sports, will host the Super Bowl in February. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is set to attend Disney’s presentation this week, CNBC previously reported.

Fox will also naturally focus heavily on sports and news, as those categories make up the majority of its portfolio since it sold its entertainment assets to Disney in 2019.

“If anything the last several years has taught us that how large you are is not nearly as significant as the composition of the portfolio you have,” said Fox’s Collins. “We certainly are maybe not as big as some of our other competitors out there, but we’ve been growing faster and from both an audience and revenue standpoint.”

For WBD, which recently lost its NBA package when the basketball league reset its media partners, general entertainment and other programming have taken a bigger role in its presentations. Its pitch to advertisers will be focused on premium content from HBO as well as unscripted programming from its TV networks that drive social media conversations.

“This year our core headline is how do we turn those cultural moments into measurable outcomes? We’ve got premium content that creates attention,” said WBD’s Gould.

Warner Bros. Discovery is making what could be its final pitch to advertisers, as the company heads toward closing on its deal with Paramount — expected in the third quarter.

“The backdrop of the Paramount integration and the deal is something that we’re navigating in day-to-day conversations with our clients,” Gould said, declining to comment further on the pending transaction. Paramount also declined any further comment on the deal.

For the most part, industry shake-ups have been part of the conversation for some time. The proliferation of cord cutting and the rise of streaming services have put the pressure on content studios to keep viewers engaged and advertisers buying in.

“Everyone’s trying to keep up with this content investment, and just that sheer investment, not only in sports rights, is a big driver of consolidation,” said Kevin Krim, CEO of ad data firm EDO.

A major reason Paramount pursued WBD was for its deep content library. The David Ellison-led company ultimately beat out Netflix and Comcast for the assets after a monthslong bidding war. The resulting combination would make for a powerhouse in film and TV.

At the same time, NBCUniversal is shrinking its foothold in TV, having separated from cable networks like CNBC, USA, E!, Oxygen and others. Versant, the new parent of those brands, is still included in holdover carriage agreements with NBCU for at least a few years, and isn’t presenting directly to advertisers at this year’s upfronts as it’s still included in NBCU’s pitch.

NBCUniversal’s Marshall noted that AI has been “leveling the playing field between linear and streaming.”

The tech is helping to gather viewership, engagement and other data faster for linear TV.

“Now we can actually show that this path of linear and streaming together is better, and prove that against marketers’ objectives,” he said.

Several advertising heads told CNBC they expect AI to take center stage at upfronts this year.

“AI is really helping people gain visibility and be very, very strategic and smart about what they commit to in the upfront,” said EDO’s Krim.

Disclosure: Versant Media is the parent company of CNBC.