• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, May 7, 2014

Enough! The drinks and D-list celebrity appearances are great, but agencies can’t handle all these darn upfronts. On that point, they all agreed during Media Magazine’s Outfront Forum on Wednesday. Between the Digital NewFronts and more traditional affairs, agency heads estimated about 100 events taking place, this season -- and that’s not including the countless pre-event meetings and phone calls, noted Adam Kasper, Chief Media Officer at Havas Media, North America. Going forward, “I don’t think we’re going to see more of these,” he said. In a word, the upfront marathon has become “impractical,” said Kristi Argyilan, President, North America, Magna Global. Plus, “Why are we adding new upfronts when we are questioning the whole idea?” Argyilan asked, referring to shifts in ad buying driven by tech innovations. What’s more, upfronts aren’t even about committing ad dollars (which has traditionally been their purpose), the execs grumbled. Rather, “It’s more about [publishers and networks] marketing their products,” said Kasper. So, enough is enough! “In five years, [the upfronts are] going to be very different,” said Barry Lowenthal, President at The Media Kitchen. Christine Merrifield, President of Investment, Activation & Operations at MediaVest USA, couldn’t agree more. “In five years, I doubt we’re going to be dealing with three weeks of content.”