The NewFronts kicked off in New York on Monday, bringing a host of new product announcements and content reveals designed to tempt advertisers to part with their (likely under-pressure) ad budgets. The week saw plenty of focus on interactivity, retail, and AI as one might have predicted, as well as the less-expected inclusions of Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson and Charles Entertainment ‘Chuck E.’ Cheese.
Across NewFronts and Upfronts season, VideoWeek will be bringing you weekly updates covering all the major announcements. Read on to hear this week’s news from Google, Amazon, Tubi, Yahoo, Snapchat, TikTok, and more.
The Tech Giants
Google: Live TV, Retail Integrations, and AI
CTV is a major focus for Google as it uses YouTube’s growth in the living room to push for TV budgets (so much so that YouTube’s main presentation sits within Upfronts week rather than the NewFronts). And Google used its presentation to highlight streaming partnerships and tools previously released, including the expansion of its Netflix partnership into EMEA and its increased access to live inventory — Google says its volume of live inventory was up 50 percent year-on-year in Q1. Google is also making more of this inventory available via auctions.
Google also said it’s launching “a comprehensive commerce and retail media solution” within its demand-side platform DV360, which will be powered by partnerships with companies including Costco, Intuit, Regal Cinemas, and United Airlines’ Kinective Media. This solution will make audience insights from these partnerships available for targeting, as well as providing sales impact measurement.
DV360 is also set for deeper AI integrations, as Google says it’s weaving its AI “into the core of buying ads in Display & Video 350”. Applications mentioned by Google include personalised inventory recommendations, chatbot-powered reports, and AI-powered campaign setup.
Amazon Ads: Complete TV Unifies Streaming Budgets with AI
Amazon Ads’ presentation highlighted Complete TV, a new Amazon DSP tool aimed at simplifying and optimising TV buying across streaming and linear. The AI-powered solution helps advertisers manage upfront and scatter budgets, offering real-time recommendations to maximise reach, frequency, and ROI.
Amazon says Complete TV integrates planning and measurement across Prime Video and premium streaming publishers, with up to 95 percent addressability via Amazon’s Ad Relevance engine. Advertisers can input audience and budget data directly or via API, and access deep campaign analytics through the Amazon Marketing Cloud.
The product is currently in beta, with general availability set for the 2025/26 broadcast season.
Yahoo: Content Deals for Sports and News
NewFronts stalwart Yahoo used its presentation to celebrate reaching 30 years as one of the internet’s top five digital properties. And while the company has grown over those years to become a major player on the tech side of advertising, its presentation focused heavily on content.
Yahoo has signed a deal with Boardroom, a media company co-founded by NBA player Kevin Durant and entrepreneur Rich Kleiman, which will see the two companies co-produce a new video series. This content will be hosted in a dedicated Boardroom hub on Yahoo Sports.
Yahoo also announced new content deals for Yahoo News, with celebrity chef Nick DiGiovanni, podcasters Deena Margolin and Kristin Gallant, and broadcasters Amy Robach and TJ Holmes all signing up to create content for the service.
The Streamers
Tubi: A Self-Serve Platform and Interactive Ads
Fox-owned streaming service Tubi is one of the few big services to have grown its share of viewing on US TVs over the past year, according to Nielsen figures. Tubi says it now has over 97 million monthly active users, with CRO Jeff Lucas saying the platform is shifting from “emerging to essential”.
To help bring a wider variety of advertisers onto the platform, Tubi has partnered with Universal Ads, the self-serve TV ad platform created by Comcast. It also announced a variety of new formats including new home page placements, carousel ads, looping video pause ads, and contextual ad placements, as well as a new guaranteed buy within Tubi’s most popular content called Tubi Prime.
Tubi revealed a number of new and expanded partnerships too, including a strategic partnership with Amazon’s DSP based on shopper data, and integrations with Moloco and Kochava based around optimising and measuring business outcomes.
Future Today: Original Series, New Formats, and a Chuck E. Cheese Network
FAST channel owner Future Today used its NewFronts to outline new content developments and partnerships. The company is moving into original content under its Fawesome Brand, with planned originals including a docuseries on digital vigilantes and an AI-powered art charades game show. Future Today also announced new content deals, including lifestyle and romance series from Pangea Entertainment and expanded culinary programming via Gusto TV and Bold Baking Network.
Child-friendly restaurant Chuck E. Cheese is moving into the media game, and Future Today has agreed a deal which will see Chuck E. Cheese content hosted on Future Today’s HappyKids. The CTV specialist will also work with Chuck E. Cheese to launch its own dedicated streaming network, including FAST channels and an on-demand app.
Future Today also spotlighted its suite of new interactive ad formats, including dynamic lower-third ads developed with ITG, interactive trivia units, L-frame placements with QR code integration, and curated brand-integrated playlists.
The Smart TV Makers
LG Ad Solutions: 3D Home Screen Ads and a 50 Cent Channel
For LG Ad Solutions, the home screen was a big focus at this year’s event, with a number of new home-screen specific formats announced in its presentation. The company says its volume of home screen inventory doubled over the past year, and with the growth, it’s adding new ways for advertisers to reach audiences within the CTV OS interface.
One of the most notable is a new 3D native home screen format, enabling brands to run 3D creative on LG’s home screen. LG also announced several partnerships which will bring a range of new ad experiences, including a deal with BrightLine to run interactive ads such as gamified ads and shoppable ad units, and a partnership with Magnite to run Magnite’s premium home screen native ads. LG is also working with Spaceback to bring social media marketing content to its TV audiences.
On the content front, the headline grabber was a new FAST channel curated by 50 Cent, with the rapper himself appearing on stage to talk through the offering.
Samsung: STN, Interactive Formats, and Performance Solutions
Free ad-supported streaming TV is already a key part of Samsung’s ad proposition, via its FAST app Samsung TV Plus, and the TV maker announced a new flagship channel for the service called Samsung Television Network (STN). STN will broadcast live sports and “must-see events”, host content from the likes of David Letterman and Conan O’Brien, and be the live exclusive home for the Jonas Brothers’ upcoming tour, according to Samsung.
Samsung announced a few other new FAST channels too, including a channel dedicated to Letterman, and a channel run by Spotify-owned podcast The Ringer.
The company also revealed a number of new advertiser-focused solutions, including new shoppable and mini-game based ads which will run on Samsung TV Plus. Samsung is also launching a new content studio to help advertisers create materials to run across its ecosystem. It also unveiled a number of new data-powered targeting and measurement solutions, including new AI-powered targeting segments based on Samsung’s own TV and mobile data, a new clean room-powered solution called Data+, and a new product called Optimal Reach designed to identify deduplicated audiences and find previously unexposed viewers across linear and AVOD.
Vizio: First Fruits of Walmart Acquisition
This was TV maker Vizio’s first NewFronts presentation since the completion of its acquisition by supermarket giant Walmart, and the company used the occasion to talk up the first fruits of this integration.
Walmart’s fast-growing retail media offering has begun directly selling Vizio inventory, and allowing buyers to use Walmart shopper data to target Vizio ads. Vizio is also exploring directly shoppable experiences, including add-to-cart ads and personalised recommendations for shopping deals and content within the Vizio interface.
Vizio also talked up new content partnerships and features within its SmartCast operating system, including new specialised hubs for content. It’s launched a new sports hub for example called Sports Zone, which includes marketing opportunities for relevant brands.
The Social Platforms
TikTok: Pulse Core and New Media Partners
While TikTok is theoretically facing the prospect of an approaching ban in the US, the likelihood of a ban actually happening looks increasingly slim. US president Donald Trump says he will extend next month’s deadline again if no deal is reached to sell the app to a US buyer, with the president revealing he has “a warm spot” for TikTok.
So it was that TikTok was on stage pitching to advertisers as usual, despite next month’s deadline. The short-form video app announced updates to TikTok Pulse, its product which enables brands to appear next to trending premium and brand safe content. It unveiled Pulse Core, which it says places brands next to user-generated content filtered by category, holiday, or AI-powered custom setups. And in Pulse Premier, its existing premium publisher programme, TikTok announced new deals with Formula 1, Warner Bros Discovery, and Red Bull Media House.
Snap: Sponsored Snaps and Smart Campaign Solutions
Last year Snapchat launched Sponsored Snaps, a new product which lets brands send video ads directly into users’ chat feeds, where they appear as direct messages from the brand. Snap says this format has proven effective, and announced a number of updates to the format at its NewFronts presentation.
‘First Snap’ is a first impression single-day takeover version of Sponsored Snaps, while ‘Sponsored Snaps from Creators’ allows advertisers to send a snap directly from a creator’s handle. Snapchat says it’s also beginning to deliver targeted Sponsored Snaps via its ads auction.
The company also announced a number of new AI-powered campaign options under the banner of ‘Smart Campaign Solutions’. The two main solutions are Smart Bidding, which allows advertisers to set a target cost-per-action and get maximised scale within that target, and Smart Budget, which enables advertisers to automatically shift spend to their highest performing ad sets.
On the content front, Snap also unveiled ‘Under the Ghost’, a music performance series hosted at the company’s Santa Monica Studio which will be broadcast via the app. Snapchat says full funnel sponsorship opportunities will be available.
LinkedIn: Revamped Video Offering
Professional networking platform LinkedIn was a newcomer at this year’s NewFronts, and video was a big focus of its pitch to advertisers. Video — to the dismay of some users and delight of others — is an increasingly prominent part of the LinkedIn Feed, and the company has revamped its video ad platform BrandLink, which connects advertisers to content from major publishers.
BrandLink, previously called the Wire Program, now also includes video content from top creators, including Steven Bartlett, Allie K. Miller, and Gary Vaynerchuk. Advertisers can choose to run across themed sets of shows — the initial set of categories announced by LinkedIn include the CEO playbook, AI & innovation, starting and scaling a business, female entrepreneurship and small business stories. Formats include pre-roll ads and in-video signage, and there will be opportunities to buy category exclusivity.
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