For many years, the upfronts were the crown jewel of the advertising calendar. TV networks pulled out all the stops with lavish annual events, hyping their new programming slates in the hopes of locking in millions of ad dollars before a single show aired. And for a long time, it worked like a charm. Advertisers bought in — literally and figuratively — to the promise of mass reach and cultural relevance. You placed your bets on big-ticket moments: the Super Bowl, the Oscars, prime-time juggernauts and sports tentpoles. The reward? Guaranteed visibility in front of a unified national audience.

But with the rise of streaming platforms, changing audience habits, and the need for a flexible ad strategy in the modern world, the question is: “Do upfronts still matter?”

TL;DR: They’re not dead, but they’re not what they used to be either.

To stay relevant, the upfronts must evolve. For anyone under 35, the concept of committing millions to ad inventory a year in advance probably sounds like a relic of another era. That’s because it is. The upfronts were built for a time when you could confidently plan a 12-month media calendar around just a few big networks. When viewers tuned in live, sat through ads and watched shows in a predictable order.

Back then, it made perfect sense. Brands knew where their audiences would be. Creative ran longer. Campaigns were built around a few hero assets. The simplicity gave everyone — brands, agencies and networks — the ability to plan, execute and optimize with a high degree of certainty.

For networks, the benefits were obvious: a large chunk of annual ad revenue locked in months before Q1 even started. For brands, it was all about access to premium inventory, cultural moments and reach that was unmatched anywhere else.

Fast forward to today, and the cracks in that model are glaring.

Not just a quirk but a shift

Viewers are no longer tied to linear schedules. They’re streaming, scrolling and snacking on content across devices. According to Nielsen, streaming now makes up over 40% of total TV time, and Samba TV recently found that 85% of Gen Z are watching TV and video on mobile, with the majority of that time spent on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.

Let’s be honest: The days of gathering around the TV to find out “Who shot J.R.” or whether Ross is really going to marry Emily when Rachel is his “lobster” are long gone (IYKYK). Today, fans binge-watch entire seasons over a weekend and most younger viewers are engaging with shows through shorts, memes and reaction videos. Why do you even need to watch the whole episode? 

This isn’t just a generational quirk — it’s a complete shift in how content is discovered, consumed and talked about. Which means brands can’t rely on the old tricks to drive reach or cultural relevance.

With audiences fragmented across platforms — Netflix, YouTube, TikTok, Hulu, Peacock and yes, still linear TV — advertisers need a multi-channel, flexible strategy. And that’s the rub. The traditional upfront model — rooted in rigid, year-long commitments — wasn’t built for flexibility. It doesn’t reflect how people consume content or how brands need to allocate dollars today.

Modern marketers are being held to real-time performance standards. They want the ability to shift spend mid-flight, test formats and tie results directly to business outcomes. If a channel can’t be measured, it won’t be bought.

Enter the NewFronts, the streaming-savvy cousin of the upfronts. Built by digital-first platforms like YouTube, Roku and Amazon, these events offer advertisers flexible buying, robust audience data and performance metrics baked in from the start.

And let’s not ignore the economic pressure here: Streaming services are now racing to monetize through advertising, with even Netflix and Disney+ introducing ad-supported tiers. That means more premium content is up for grabs, but under terms more aligned with how modern marketers buy.

Game over?

So, is it game over for the traditional upfronts? Not quite.

There are still unique advantages that linear TV delivers, especially for brands playing the long game. Over 60 million U.S. households still have cable, and nearly 23 million regularly watch broadcast. And when it comes to live, unmissable cultural moments, nothing competes.

Take this year’s Super Bowl: 127 million people tuned in across platforms to watch the Eagles beat the Chiefs. The ads reached tens of millions in one hit. For brands looking to make a big splash, build awareness, or remind the world they’re still dominant, those moments still matter. 

But the upfronts can’t survive on nostalgia and sports alone. They need to modernize, quickly and meaningfully. 

There’s been a lot of talk about introducing a rolling commitment model, where advertisers can adjust budgets throughout the year. NBCUniversal and Disney have experimented with more flexible terms, but most upfront deals still default to legacy structures. We’re also seeing progress on audience-based buying. NBCU’s Audience Insights Hub is a step in the right direction, allowing brands to activate more tailored segments across properties.

But the real gaps remain in two areas: real-time performance adjustments and centralized campaign management across both linear and streaming. Some networks are testing cross-platform measurement and frequency capping, but “testing” isn’t enough. Advertisers need real solutions that let them manage video holistically.

If those advancements are made, the upfronts could see a true resurgence and find themselves not just competing but winning against digital media commitments. Because they still hold one ace card: the biggest reach moments in media.

So where does that leave brands?

The smart ones aren’t choosing between old and new. They’re doing both. They’re balancing high-reach buys with high-efficiency platforms. They’re integrating brand and performance, long-term and short-term, scale and precision. They’re testing, learning, optimizing. And — crucially — they’re demanding more from their media partners.