Amazon’s initial aggressive move will attract Fox and Telemundo

Amazon’s attempt to be a prime mover during TV’s annual Upfront Week has it crashing into long-standing industry protocols.

The streaming and e-commerce giant plans to move its initial presentation to Monday evening the week of May, during the presentations that major media companies hold for Madison Avenue each year. In doing so, Amazon will likely force some advertisers to abandon other long-running events in this niche. Fox Corp. traditionally hosts an upfront presentation late Monday afternoon, while NBCUniversal’s Spanish-language Telemundo network has hosted a Monday evening event and concert for several years for advertisers.

Rivals believe Amazon’s maneuver will make Mondays more manic. In addition, the new event risks hindering not only the scheduled presentations, but also the additional meetings already scheduled between advertisers and sales managers of the networks.

“Upfronts are a long-standing tradition with a fixed calendar each year that is based on cross-sector collaboration in service of our collective agency and our client partners. NBCUniversal’s Monday night Telemundo event is an integral part of this week. And as the Latino community generates massive purchasing power in our industry today, it is essential that the advertising market has the ability to connect to Telemundo, the #1 Spanish-language broadcast network, especially since it will host the FIFA World Cup. in North America in 2026,” Mark Marshall, president of global advertising and partnerships at NBCU, said in a statement. “The counter-programming of Upfront events is unfortunate for our agencies and clients.“

“Historically, Upfront Week has been successful in maintaining a schedule that best meets clients’ needs and respects their limited time,” Jeff Collins, Fox Corp.’s president of advertising sales, marketing and brand partnerships, said in a press release. “It’s unfortunate to hear that yet another event has been squeezed into an already busy day for advertisers, because at the end of the day, Upfront presentations are for them.”

Amazon plans to hold its front at the Beacon Theater in New York City at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, May 12. During the front, the annual advertising market in which 70% or more of television networks’ commercial inventory is sold before the next schedule. During the season, Mondays have long been the preserve of NBCUniversal, which has events in the late morning and evening, and Fox, which presents in the late afternoon. In 2024, Amazon held its first upfront presentation on a Tuesday morning, in a time slot vacated by Disney.

A person familiar with the matter said Amazon was “not concerned” about the proximity of its event to those of its competitors. The company declined to make executives available for comment.

Amazon intends to talk to advertisers about new opportunities related to its tier of ad-supported streaming, as well as programming and content related to Prime Video, Amazon MGM Studios, Fire TV Channels, Twitch, Wondery, IMDb, Amazon Live and Amazon Music.

The company has reason to jostle for strength at the start of the week. In late 2025, Amazon will obtain streaming rights to a major 66-game NBA package previously hosted at Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT. These games could bring as much as $750 million in new advertising revenue to Amazon, according to an estimate by Robert Fishman, a media industry analyst at MoffettNathanson. He projects Amazon will pay about $1.795 billion annually for its NBA rights. Amazon has already revealed plans to tackle holiday advertising by pairing a special NFL “Black Friday” game with an NBA game in 2025. The company also owns the NASCAR rights.

However, Amazon’s entry on Monday evening will worry traditional competitors. Fox also relies heavily on live sports rights – particularly those related to the NFL and Major League Baseball – to generate advertising revenue. Meanwhile, Telemundo figures into NBCUniversal’s future sports plans, which will also offer a new NBA package in 2026, as well as the rights to televise Super Bowl LX.

Ironically, Fox has already made its way to Monday. In 2009, Fox moved its front, which typically took place on Thursdays and closed out the week, to Monday, NBC’s longtime home. At the time, NBCU’s then-CEO Jeff Zucker decided to abandon the NBC broadcast network’s traditional upfront presentation and instead stage an “experience” around the company’s headquarters, Rockefeller Center in New York, which gave a nod to everything from CNBC to “American Gladiators.” » Since there had been no advance as usual for NBC, Fox executives thought, what would be the problem?

NBCU returned the favor in 2016, tapping Jennifer Lopez to lead a Monday night concert to promote Telemundo. Since then, the Spanish-language media outlet has been speaking on Monday evenings.

Now Amazon has the case for Mondays. “We received positive feedback from agencies and brands, leading to strong demand following our first launch of Prime Video ads,” Alan Moss, vice president of global advertising sales, said in a statement. prepared. “Advertisers are turning to our comprehensive offering of comprehensive advertising solutions. We connect campaign tactics across awareness, consideration and conversion into a cohesive strategy to directly measure the contribution of each tactic and enable continued business growth.

Amazon has stumbled over sensitivities in the past. The company’s initial 2024 event was held at a venue in Lower Manhattan, far from the rest of the week’s presentations. Amazon delayed the start of its show until most guests could enter the room, and the late finishing time made the process of attending a subsequent TelevisaUnivision showcase more difficult.

Amazon played a big role early in 2024, just after announcing plans to make an ad-supported version of its Prime Video service the default for all users. Those who want to avoid ads now have to pay additional fees. The tonnage of commercial inventory created by this decision has put pressure on streaming advertising rates – and will likely have an effect on the sales process in 2025.