• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, April 11, 2024

Participating upfront video advertising and marketing executives have “some” optimism in the TV and streaming marketplace to come -- but with a lot of caveats, according to a new iSpot upfront survey.

A recent survey shows that 27% of marketers plan to spend “a bit more” or “much more” in the upfront marketplace -- up 21% from a year ago. Still, those in the "much more" category have declined -- anywhere from 3% to 5%.

Another 54% say they will spend about the same amount. A year ago, according to the survey, the percentage that said they would spend the same was 53%. 

The biggest problem for marketers is fragmentation when it comes to overall streaming measurement -- coming in at 54.6%.

This is followed by issues around cross-platform reach and frequency, at 34.8%. Channel selection in media planning --“allocation across publishers” -- is the next-biggest concern, at 29%.

Streaming overall continues to be favorable for marketers, with 30% of respondents saying 20% or more of upfront budgets would go for digital streaming platforms. Still, there are issues -- 48% of marketers only plan to spend 15% or less on streaming.

Third-party measurement -- in terms of non-Nielsen media currencies -- is of key importance, with 76% saying they "strongly agree" or "agree" that it is necessary for a transaction.

The streaming piece of the survey came from 370 marketer executives from 236 brands and advertisers from January 9 through January 31 of this year.

For the overall upfront part of the research, over 260 marketer executives were surveyed from 177 brands, advertisers and agencies from February 20 through March 12.