• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, May 7, 2014

Speaking at the Outfront Forum, Christine Merrifield president of investment, activation and operations of MediaVest USA, says she had to miss three Newfronts meetings recently.

And here's the problem -- which she says might speak to a larger picture about new digital offerings -- and their maturity: None of those three upfront meetings had streaming webcasts.

And then there is the rapidly growing number of newfront/upfront presentations.

While the newfronts prove interesting for many industry executives, Barry Lowenthal, president of The Media Kitchen, is concerned about consumers how to make sense of all the offerings.

Industry analysts have long talked about the problem over consumer discovery of new digital TV programs.