Disney’s Rita Ferro Rethinks Upfronts: 'You Buy Cars All Year.' Why Not Ads?
The ad chief, along with WBD's ad team, explain Hollywood’s annual ad blitz, banged up by tariffs and crashed by streamers
I write about TV from L.A. I interviewed Universal TV president Erin Underhill about the new deal structure her studio is beta-testing with writers and spoke to MRC TV president Jenna Santoianni about how the indie studio beats the big guys. I’m at elaine@theankler.com
Good morning from New York City, readers. Are you ready for the annual dog-and-pony show that is Upfronts? It’s that time of year when major entertainment companies preen for Madison Avenue and score commitments from ad buyers. It’s kind of old-timey, it’s kind of fun and — unlike other faded staples of the TV world (R.I.P. TCA) — these presentations, for now at least, still matter.
Traditionally, Upfronts offered advertisers a look at the fall broadcast programming schedule, which meant that it was crucial for networks to showcase strong, buzzy first-season and returning shows that would attract bidders for primetime commercial space. Now, companies like Disney and NBCUniversal hawk airtime on their linear networks in addition to ad spots on their streaming services, YouTube has its own version of an upfront, and direct-to-consumer pure plays Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video have wedged themselves into this week’s razzle-dazzle ad Olympics. Meanwhile, in a sign of the times, Paramount-owned CBS has in recent years opted instead to host more intimate dinner events instead of a big show.
The challenges for linear TV and the entertainment industry broadly were fully evident at this time in 2024, but the new complexifier of President Trump’s will-he-or-won’t-he tariff war is keeping everyone on their toes and spells no good for companies trying to figure out how to portion out their advertising budgets. Still, even amid the uncertainty, the show(s) must go on, and many of the week’s traditions continue: NBCUniversal remains the opener, kicking off the festivities today at Radio City Music Hall with a glamorous show that opened with a Broadway-style number from Seth MacFarlane: “NBCU’s the shit you’re after/ everything’s waiting for you/ all of the sports, thrills and laughter.” While the likes of Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe took the stage to hype comedy fare that hearkened to the Must-See TV days, and Jon M. Chu showed up to talk Wicked and a live November event featuring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande ahead of the second film’s premiere, sports were of course in the spotlight — with global ad chair Mark Marshall pushing the slate hard. Then came the crowd-roaring announcement that Michael Jordan will join the NBA on NBC as a special contributor. (First the pope, now this — it’s a banner week for my home city of Chicago.)
This splashy week remains a key business period for both the ad and entertainment industries — more than 75 percent of the media buyers and planners surveyed by business pub Campaign said that Upfronts are “somewhat important” or “still essential.”
But the game is changing: Of all the trends, media buyers said they’re most interested in AI and automation in ad buying (55 percent indicated interest). Nearly a quarter of those surveyed were intrigued by shoppable content and commerce media, and nearly one in five want to know more about celebrity- or influencer-led campaigns. (Paging Like & Subscribe helmer Natalie Jarvey, who is also in NYC this week for YouTube’s Brandcast.)
While the bulk of ad dollars are still committed during this period, ad buying — like series development — is now a year-round activity in the streaming TV era.
“You buy cars all year long, you consume food products and buy packaged goods all year long,” Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of global advertising, tells me. “So it’s a really important pivot, I think, from a television perspective, that we now are able to create and grow partnerships on an annual basis, all throughout the year, with different moments that really capture opportunities for brands in different ways, through content and storytelling.”
And the invasion of the (ad-supported) streamers continues. See: After its first-ever Upfront last year featuring Reese Witherspoon, Will Ferrell and Jake Gyllenhaal, Prime Video has now planted its flag on the very first day of Upfronts — Monday evening, a timeslot historically held by Fox (shade!). Fox will still go at 4 p.m. ET today at the Hammerstein Ballroom, with Amazon on its heels at 6:30 p.m. at the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side. Amazon is also hosting an afterparty at the New York Public Library — another “we’ve arrived” moment.
In addition to Ferro, I spoke to Warner Bros. Discovery ad sales presidents Bobby Voltaggio and Ryan Gould (both named to the role in February) as well as S&P Global analyst Naveen Sarma for this week’s Series Business.
Here’s what to expect below:
📺 Inside Upfronts 2025: Power moves, shakeups, and what really matters this year
💰 Tariffs, fear & ad dollars: How Trump’s trade war is rattling media budgets
Who’s pulling back: The brands already slashing ad spend — and why
Netflix’s ad tier: Why it’s still a “work in progress” — and what could change everything
🏀 Live sports take over: What the ad gold rush means for scripted TV’s future
A message to showrunners: What Disney’s Rita Ferro wants creators to hear right now
Who’s surfing the ad wave: The HBO and Max hits that are breaking through — with buyers and audiences
