2025 Upfronts: The Year Data Became The Product (Finally)

In 2025, the Upfronts wasn’t just about content—it was about control of the data layer beneath the content. With cookies disappearing and performance expectations rising, publishers are pivoting hard: to storytelling, audience and more about the systems that monetize it.

At this year’s Upfronts and NewFronts, five trends dominated—but one force stood above the rest: the convergence of content, data, and tech into performance-focused, AI-optimized, privacy-resilient advertising ecosystems.

Let’s break down the market’s most powerful players—not by who has the flashiest content, but by how they’re building the next-gen advertising stack.

I. DATA INFRASTRUCTURE: First-Party Graphs & Signal Quality

Amazon Ads

• Commerce-first graph of 300M+ global users, 130M+ on Prime Video, tied to product search, purchase, and review behavior.

• Amazon Marketing Cloud + Amazon Publisher Cloud give advertisers and media owners a privacy-safe way to query performance-linked, shoppable audiences.

• Retail data drives powerful closed-loop measurement with unmatched signal fidelity.

Netflix

• 94M monthly ad-tier users and growing fast, with 170M total reach.

• Built on direct sign-in, show interaction, watch time, and skip behavior—premium behavioral signals tied to content quality.

• Integrates with LiveRamp, Snowflake, and InfoSum for advertiser matching; native first-party measurement suite is rapidly expanding.

Disney

• Disney Select and clean-room initiatives offer identity resolution at scale: integrating Disney+, ESPN+, ABC, Hulu, and more under a unified data framework.

• Large authenticated user base from DTC logins and app ecosystem.

• Data partnerships with LiveRamp, The Trade Desk (UID2), and Habu enable scaled clean-room activation and measurement.

Paramount

• “Paramount Personas” combine 80 audience segments using internal first-party data with partners like smrtr, Coles 360, Samba TV, Circana, and ABS.

• Especially strong in Australian and international markets via 10 Play, Paramount+, Pluto TV.

Fox

• FOX One provides unified access to behavioral data across news, sports, and entertainment.

• OneFOX enables AI-modeled audience prediction using AdRise, plus first-party data from owned streaming platforms.

NBCUniversal

• NBCU owns a massive cross-platform graph through Peacock, linear TV, apps, and NBC Sports properties.

• Acts as both publisher and clean-room participant: Amazon Publisher Cloud partner + proprietary FreeWheel integrations.

II. TECHNOLOGY LAYER: Clean Rooms, AI, and Activation Infrastructure

Netflix

• Netflix Ads Suite = native measurement, programmatic access, and generative-AI creative tools built directly into the platform.

• Supports third-party clean room integration while moving toward end-to-end internal tech stack.

Amazon

• AWS Clean Rooms are becoming industry standard for secure match environments—available to both advertisers and publishers.

• Amazon Publisher Cloud allows media partners to join data with Amazon’s for collaborative planning, frequency control, and measurement.

Disney

• Disney’s Clean Room initiative enables safe data collaboration with key partners.

• “Magic Words” and “Experience Composer” use AI to dynamically generate creative and match messaging to emotional tone, scene, or talent in real time.

• Deep measurement capabilities across Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+ through its Compass planning system.

Fox

• OneFOX’s predictive modeling built via AdRise offers cross-platform optimization with AI at the core.

• Emphasis is on owning the planning layer—dynamic recommendations, activation, and measurement.

Paramount

• Paramount Connect is a multi-phase rollout unifying BVOD (10 Play), SVOD (Paramount+), and FAST, with linear folded in by late 2025.

• Powered by a unified ID and data fabric across platforms, enabling frictionless audience extension and personalized ad delivery.

NBCUniversal

• FreeWheel continues to serve as NBCU’s ad-tech spine.

• Emphasizing “next-gen programmatic TV,” NBCU is integrating AI for campaign pacing, audience prediction, and dynamic creative in One Platform.

III. AD PRODUCT & MONETIZATION INNOVATION

Disney

• ESPN Unified approach streamlines ad buying across linear and digital channels.

• Contextual and AI-powered formats (Magic Words) drive higher relevance and brand recall.

• Live sports inventory paired with real-time tools like ScoreCenter+ delivers precision and scale.

Amazon

• Pause Ads: Insert shoppable, AI-generated creative during natural breaks in live sports and shows.

• Video shopping formats and real-time product overlays are tightly integrated with e-commerce outcomes.

• Combine with Fire TV and Alexa shopping insights for deep attribution.

Netflix

• Leaning into story-driven native ad formats: integrating branded experiences directly into Netflix shows using generative AI.

• Mid-roll and interactive units set for 2026 promise immersive, lean-in advertising.

NBCUniversal

• Owns the 2025 sports tentpole calendar: Super Bowl, Winter Olympics, NBA All-Star—paired with interactive Peacock features like Catch-Up Key Plays and Courtside Live.

• Second-screen experiences feed real-time signals into campaign optimization.

Paramount

• “Pause to Shop” and “Own the Moment” bring interactivity and retail media closer to premium CTV.

• Vertical-social-to-TV ad formats now supported via Innovid, even without traditional video creative.

• Smart packaging of cultural moments (VMAs, March Madness) into shoppable formats.

Fox

• Streamlined cross-platform buying and AI-powered audience modeling with OneFOX.

• Primetime + live sports + real-time optimization enables high-performing audience clusters tied to outcomes.

The Era of Performance Privacy Is Here

The biggest story of the 2025 Upfronts? TV isn’t just content anymore—it’s infrastructure. The platforms that control both audience and content/context data, clean-room collaboration, and activation layers are winning—not because they have the most shows, but because they can prove performance and protect consumer privacy while doing it.

If you’re still evaluating publishers based on “who has the best show,” you’re missing the point. The real shift is under the hood: identity frameworks, clean-room access, AI creative, and measurable outcomes.

The lines between media owner, data provider, and tech stack? They’re blurring fast. And for brands and agencies, the new Upfront playbook is clear:

• Partner where performance is provable

• Invest where innovation is native

• Demand data transparency, not just audience reach

Because in this next era of advertising, scale is important—but signal is everything.