Media Transformation and the Television Upfront
The Media Advisory Board is a group of 13 senior-level client-side media executives and is a subset of the ANA Media Leadership Committee. The primary purposes of the Media Advisory Board are to act as change agents and to identify topics and issues that advance industry opportunities and address industry challenges.
Our recent focus has been broadly on media transformation and reform. More specifically, we have gathered to discuss the television upfront marketplace. Recognizing the opportunities for change brought forward by the COVID-19 crisis, the ANA Media Advisory Board advocates that:
- The television upfront is shifted from a broadcast year to a calendar year to reflect and improve business planning, elevate marketer decision-making, and align television buying with most marketers' fiscal years. This is an immediate priority.
- The ANA addresses other critical issues that pertain to the marketplace. These include greater visibility to the marketplace, ratings estimates rooted in more realistic research, increased financial flexibility throughout the year, and improved ability to measure business results with our investments.
- The ANA elevates long-term media transformation initiatives, including cross-platform measurement and the transition to a digital ecosystem without third-party cookies.
The ANA Media Advisory Board has issued two reports — one for the C-suite and the other for media practitioners — to address these important issues.