Measurement and effectiveness supplanted the usual focus on programming and content in the 2025 upfronts, as agencies and advertisers call for more ROI from television networks.
Whether it was Seven providing direct access to consumer insights and going live with its total TV trading system, Nine teaming up with Adgile and DataCo to enhance advertising measurement and attribution capabilities and using independent, third-parties to verify ROI across all its advertising channels or Paramount rolling out a converged advertising trading technology and expanding CTV opportunities for brands, the announcements of the three free-to-air stalwarts all had a common theme running through them - data is king.
The focus for SBS was not only on areas the hybrid funded national broadcaster has been traditionally strong in - challenging the industry to go further on sustainability and taking action and lift investment in First Nations media - but also in taking aim at the traditional 25-54s demographic used to buy TV spots, brandishing them as “outdated”.
For Foxtel, partnerships were the order of the day - one with tvbeat to convert linear TV spots into digitally tracked and reported impressions and another with CommBank iQ and Adgile to unlock deeper insights for greater audience targeting.
A launch date for another Foxtel collaborative project - the total audience measurement solution developed in conjunction with Kantar - was also provided, a service that’s sure to shake up the landscape at the same time as VOZ Streaming is set to hit the market.
It wasn’t just the announcements that were different - the formats were switched up too.
While SBS returned to Sydney Town Hall for lunch and Paramount held another intimate affair at a 10 studio, Seven swapped the spectacle of the ICC in 2023 for a more stripped back showing at the Sunrise & Morning Show studio for their 2024 event.
Foxtel once again went ‘big’, following up their Cockatoo Island jaunt from last year with another industrial setting - White Bay Power Station in Rozelle - while Nine took over Carriageworks to stage a lunch for 1,200, forgoing the usual line up of television personalities and instead relying on Nine’s senior sales team to talk directly to clients.
The key question in all of this is what did the media buyers think of this year’s Upfronts?
The standout
The Trade Desk’s director of inventory partnerships, Ashton De Santis, said this year’s upfronts underscored the powerful impact of BVOD in delivering measurable brand results, with Foxtel and Nine setting the standard in showcasing the value of premium video.
“As advertisers face increasing demands for ROI, this focus on demonstrating business outcomes is especially timely,” he said.
“With ad frequency a top priority for advertisers, the introduction of unified platforms to measure campaigns and audiences holistically is a highly anticipated solution. While it remains to be seen how this scales beyond individual publisher solutions, this is a hugely positive step for optimising targeted campaigns across a broader range of premium inventory.
“I’m excited to see these tangible, cross-channel results and look forward to integrating them with interoperable identity solutions to help deliver exactly what advertisers need today—holistic, objective, and transparent measurement.”
Initiative’s chief investment officer, Paige Wheaton, said the significance placed on ROI across various players, from Nine, Seven and to a degree Foxtel, historically hasn’t been recognised in such a committed approach.
“There’s a new willingness for networks to have skin in the game in ways that we haven’t seen before with assurance in proving that Total Television is where clients should invest,” she said.
UM’s head of investment for Sydney, Brittany Crowley, agreed that the increasing emphasis on advanced data analytics and personalised advertising means that both broadcast and digital platforms are pushing for more tailored audience targeting.
“Companies like Nine and Seven are integrating more granular first-party data with their advertising offerings, allowing brands to optimise their campaigns with greater precision across their networks,” she told AdNews.
“As streaming continues to dominate viewing habits, companies like Foxtel and Paramount leaned heavily into their on-demand platforms. The launch of new, original Australian content, particularly in the drama and unscripted genres, is a strategic move to build subscriber loyalty and differentiate these services from international competitors.”
Elsewhere, Crowley praised the push for sustainability and reducing carbon footprints in media operations, along with several platforms showcasing tools to streamline campaign management and performance optimisation via automation and artificial intelligence.
“This includes more sophisticated programmatic advertising solutions across both traditional TV and digital inventory, aligning with broader global trends in ad tech,” she said.
This is Flow’s head of investment, Sue Cant, said Paramount’s commitment to bring a unified trading platform, Paramount Connect, to market in early 2025 is “great news” as media buyers will finally be able to access a single audience view across BVOD, SVOD, AVOD and FAST channels.
“I am holding back my excitement until they also bring in linear though, which is currently pipped to join in the second half of 2025. Only then will we really be able to see their true Total TV and get to that one true blended CPM,” she said.
“Also, the expansion to their shoppable CTV offering and partnership with KERV will be one to watch, now to be labelled ‘Pause to Shop’ – this is an interesting one and I’m really keen to see who and how much adoption there is across 2025, plus the results for brands, as it opens up another ‘engagement- into-sales’ channel for our clients which is an exciting opportunity.”
For Nine, Cant said the standout was further advancements across tech and data with the expansion of the partnerships with Adgile and DataCo as agencies are constantly, and fairly, being questioned by clients on all areas of proving effectiveness, how they measure and attribute every dollar of marketing spends but how they can be nimble and best optimise based on real-time results.
“It was pleasing to see Nine really cement their commitment to these areas to support the industry in delivering better business results,” she said.
“They were also the first media partner to hold themselves to account with independent verification through MMM, really putting skin in the game with $30m of ad revenue pledged to do it.
“As a trader at heart, a big win was hearing about the evolution of the Galaxy platform; 9Galaxy+ with the addition of prime-time inventory now being available to trade, really cementing the platform as a total trading platform, enabling our buyers to buy into audiences across all of the Nine platforms making it a one stop, really easy transaction for our team.
“Commercialising Stan Sport was a much anticipated welcome, but I think it would have received a larger ‘thank you’ cheer had it opened up the same opportunities across the Entertainment platform but I’m happy to watch how this ‘baby steps’ approach delivers and how they further scale this in the future.”
Seven’s trading platform Phoenix, merging metro, regional tv and BVOD inventory, was a welcome highlight for the agency chief too, as from a trading perspective, ease of transaction and being able to tap into a fully rounded, holistic views of audiences is paramount in enabling teams to trade quickly, efficiently and at scale – now a requirement with the ever changing and complex nature of the Total TV landscape.
“Where I need convincing, however, is their move to separate the TV and Digital businesses which includes the sales teams - in a world now where everyone is talking converged and ease, this doesn’t make sense to me?” she told AdNews
“And in an exciting change that I am all for, Seven interestingly switched their approach by positioning themselves as a digital-first business, with their particular focus being on a ‘7Plus first approach’ announcing they are going to step up and go up against ad funded SVOD platforms like Stan, Disney+ and Netflix by investing in marketing their content.
“Interestingly, Seven also committed to a total TV Effectiveness study with $10m of their inventory for new or low spending clients that want to partner with them. Who’s to say if this was always on the cards prior to the earlier $30m commitment from Nine – but any money to help demonstrate TV effectiveness is money well spent in my opinion and I will always applaud that!”
Which network won?
An interesting announcement or renewed focus doesn’t necessarily mean that optimism is solely directed towards one player and one player alone. But who really took home the gold from a media agency perspective?
Crowley said while there were several strong contenders, Nine stands out, as it not only continued to innovate its offering but also showed impressive flexibility in its integration of broadcast, digital, and social platforms.
“Nine’s offering, which consolidates its extensive TV, digital, and radio assets, gives advertisers more integrated solutions. The emphasis on combining linear TV with its on-demand services via 9Now, and a stronger play in podcasts and radio, made Nine’s upfront presentation cohesive and compelling,” she said.
“Nine's ability to leverage its massive pool of first-party data from across its broadcast, digital, and publishing properties (such as The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age) also gives it a unique edge in personalised advertising. Their investment in AI-driven advertising solutions also positions them well for the future.
“With an exciting slate of Australian content and exclusive international partnerships (particularly in the sports and entertainment verticals), Nine’s push for premium content resonates with both viewers and advertisers. Their sports rights, including the exclusive AFL broadcast, add significant value to their offering.”
Cant said SBS was the standout from her perspective, as the broadcaster stayed authentic and true to their values.
“Sure, they had some of their key talent there but what that talent spoke to wasn’t just the programming, but also the changes they were hopeful that the programming would contribute to and the impact they would have, as well as their very familiar stand on sustainability,” she said.
“SBS have so many distinctive, yet often not realised, large scale assets that sometimes get forgotten in the breadth of the TV landscape and these assets excite me most as they can offer brand new audiences, additional scale and unrivalled content for our clients – outside of the clutter and haze of others.
“They quoted OzTAM data that shows 7/10 their main channel viewers on a daily basis are not consuming other FTA alternatives, so for me, SBS scale is an exciting one to be able to get in front of these untapped audiences. They also announced a welcome addition of NITV launching a dedicated hub on SBS On Demand which gives a new destination for all audiences to find NITV content too which is an important and positive move for all.”
The Media Store’s trading manager Mollie Cross agreed that SBS’ announcements were “especially compelling”, and she can see the network securing incremental share year-on-year off the back of their positioning of representing a diverse Australia and sticking to their guns of who they are.
“Seven’s BVOD strategy for 2025 does give me pause though, and it will be interesting to see Seven and Nine duke it out when Nine launches ads across Stan Sports,” she said.
For the Trade Desk’s De Santis, companies accelerating their tech capabilities is a positive step in a digital-first era, so Foxtel’s swift transition from traditional broadcast to a streaming-focused model was a highlight.
“Their bold moves in live events, identity resolution, and measurement are impressive,” he told AdNews.
“What stands out is their commitment to industry collaboration, particularly through their work with the Video Futures Collective. This initiative is driving progress in Australia’s video advertising landscape, setting new benchmarks for measurement and accountability.
“Foxtel is undeniably raising the bar for data transparency and measurement across the industry.”
Wheaton saw no clear "winner" but something that did resonate strongly was the provocations from Foxtel’s upfront.
“In forging a new path for measurement and the continuation of their journey of disruption and evolution from Linear to VOD wasn’t going to be simple or easy,” she said.
“While this evolution doesn’t initially make the ease of transaction any simpler and may have short term commercial and retention challenges for their business, this is the kind of progress we’re looking from for our partners as channels continue to fragment.
“Another moment that has continued to ruminate was SBS’ baiting of ‘chasing the P25-54 demo’ and their ongoing challenge to advertisers in supporting the Beyond 3% initiative. SBS continues to operate with such strong authenticity as a catalyst for culture in the Australian landscape, and their continued ambitions to make our industry better continues to inspire me.”
Local programming
Despite agencies finding areas to like about all the offerings put forward by Seven, Nine, Paramount, SBS and Foxtel at this year’s Upfronts, there were still some who felt like certain areas were lacking.
Zenith Australia’s chief investment officer Elizabeth Baker said the change in focus from the TV networks, with their traditional content-led presentations overshadowed by tech and data announcements, felt like a missed opportunity.
“While technology and data-driven advancements are crucial, content - especially locally produced programming - remains a key differentiator for TV networks,” she said.
“What local content offers, beyond just viewership, is the potential for deep integration with advertising and the creation of more authentic connections with audiences. It’s not just about reach or ratings; it’s about the unique value of local stories and programming, creating opportunities for advertisers to align their brands with content that resonates with viewers on a cultural and emotional level.
“Broadcast video comes at a premium cost. By downplaying premium content, networks risk losing sight of this powerful asset, which could help them maintain that premium in the increasingly crowded media landscape.”
Baker did praise SBS in this regard though, saying that the broadcaster maintained a strong focus on content, keeping it front and centre in their strategy.
“They successfully emphasised what makes them distinct - namely, their unique programming that resonates with Australia’s diverse population,” she said.
“SBS struck a good balance in showcasing their dual strength in both linear and streaming assets, while staying true to their core identity. Their decision to remain part of OzTAM while also embracing newer developments, such as being a part of Foxtel’s Video Futures Collective, shows SBS’ simultaneous commitment to traditional metrics and forward-thinking approach.”
Wheaton agreed that there was a noticeable absence of localised programming and new news in programming generally this Upfronts season.
“For the networks to deliver long term audience and commercial sustainability in a fast growing SVOD market is the development of localised content that supports a flourishing Australian news and media community,” she said.
“Further moments of collaboration were also missing. While the continued developments of VOZ are promising and showcases how the industry can come together, there’s several like-minded initiatives around convergence and ROI that could strongly benefit from the backing and scalability of the industry.
“This would continue to position the importance of the medium which I believe can be achieved better together than apart.”
The Media Store’s Cross said that while the industry is moving towards a digital-first route to market for new content, especially exclusive shows, much more emphasis is put on data platforms and validating screens as a channel through local partners.
“Next year I’d love there to be more discourse around the intersectionality of the screens space to support long-term investment into local partners, while international platforms continue to build momentum and scale,” she said.
“We know consumers are no longer wedded to the networks in the same way as they used to be, and so being transparent about trading models and flexibility will be vital to ensure it’s not just metro activity that thrives, but that regional aren’t left behind thanks to rampant inflation from ingesting BVOD into a converged trading mix.”
For UM’s Crowley, what was missing was discussion about partnerships with agencies and how they are aligning with the needs of brands in terms of ROI, creativity, and ad effectiveness.
“A more collaborative approach to the future of media planning and buying, involving agencies and advertisers in a more meaningful way, would help to further bridge the gap between media owners and brands,” she told AdNews.
De Santis said advertisers still lack a comprehensive view of their digital investments across the open internet, where consumers spend 64% of their digital media time.
“ As users engage on BVOD, music streaming, mobile apps, websites, and more, it’s crucial for advertisers to measure performance across all these channels, as this allows them to objectively compare ad opportunities, manage frequency, and optimise campaigns across channels and devices,” he said.
“There is a clear opportunity to build a unified framework for this. Industry-wide identity solutions like Unified ID 2.0 allows brands to seamlessly connect publisher data with their own first-party data to measure campaigns holistically, driving efficiency and improving ROI.
"If premium content is delivering brand results, advertisers should be able to measure its impact alongside their broader investments across the premium open internet.”
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.