Future of TV Briefing: Inside Warner Bros. Discovery's programmatic upfront pitch

"“More than half” of the advertiser demand for WBD's biddable inventory comes through the upfront, said Jill Steinhauser, group svp of platform monetization and partnerships at WBD, in an interview."

"That share stands to grow as HBO Max's parent company facilitates more automated ad buying with agency holding companies and sees a shift toward programmatic private marketplace deals with advertisers becoming more popular and accepted. “We also welcome [programmatic] more heavily into sports than we ever did before,” Steinhauser said."

"In the past year, the company made its live sports inventory - including this spring's NCAA March Madness tournament - available programmatically, and it introduced a self-serve ad buying tool called NEO. And this year's upfront comes as agentic ad buying appears set to move from warming up in the bullpen to the proverbial “early innings.”"

"But it's really that combination of programmatic and live sports - the ballhog of upfront ad dollars - that is having the most impact on WBD's evolving programmatic business. Programmatic “does make things a little bit tricker when you get into sports and live sports. And obviously live sports is a big underpinning of the upfront these days with all the major streamers.”"

Upfront advertisers account for more than half of Warner Bros. Discovery’s demand for biddable programmatic inventory. That proportion is expected to increase as HBO Max’s parent company enables more automated ad buying through agency holding companies and shifts toward programmatic private marketplace deals. Programmatic is also expanding more heavily into sports, supported by the availability of live sports inventory programmatically, including NCAA March Madness. Warner Bros. Discovery also introduced NEO, a self-serve ad buying tool. The upfront market is described as an inflection point because programmatic and live sports together influence how advertisers allocate major upfront dollars.

Read at Digiday