Ahead of the upfront market, one major issue that seemingly has quieted down is pharmaceutical advertising. Still, things could change once the TV season gets going.
Heading into the market, there
was a potential threat that the Trump Administration -- under Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. -- was going to make quick work of existing pharma ads on TV.
The
elimination would surely heavily ding broadcast and cable TV networks that are now even older-skewing. Around $5.2 billion in overall national TV ad spend in 2024, according to iSpot, is spent on
pharmaceuticals.
Currently - -at least for this year’s upfront -- all is quiet for those brands. They are proceeding with caution in the upfront, according to media executives.
That said, TV Watch has been told there seem to be more “flexible” options with their upfront deals in terms of brands' future needs to immediately cut back on media buys
throughout the year -- beyond the typical 25% cancellation options in the first quarter of its of upfront buys and 50% in the second and third quarter. Fourth quarter upfront deals are typically firm,
with no options.
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Media-buying executives also figure that many brands might also have more flexible options when it comes to tariff-related effects on national TV upfront buying. Currently the
sentiment is now mixed due to Trump's ongoing shifts in tariff policies.
Back to pharma. Kennedy’s expected push isn’t just for TV -- but digital, social media, print and radio
pharma ads as well.
Some analysts are expecting Kennedy would amp up greater transparency in advertising that would require disclosure of side effects for drugs.
At the same time,
Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Angus King (I-ME) introduced a bill prohibiting direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising on television, radio, print, digital platforms, and social
media.
This is an extension of original efforts to focus solely on TV. If not a total ban, King's original bill asked for at least a three-year delay -- after FDA approval -- for the timeline
when a drug could be advertised.
Some change is coming. And the impact on this year’s upfront? Not in the near term, anyway.