{"id":23334,"date":"2026-05-18T06:16:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T06:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=23334"},"modified":"2026-05-18T06:16:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T06:16:25","slug":"the-highs-and-lows-from-this-years-upfronts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=23334","title":{"rendered":"The highs and lows from this year\u2019s upfronts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Upfronts week only comes once a year, but the memories will last forever.<\/p>\n

Our team once again had the pleasure of covering media companies\u2019 biggest pitches to the advertising world, and there were plenty of highlights\u2014and lowlights. Across the star-studded performances, stand-up routines, and celebrity appearances, there were plenty of memorable moments.<\/p>\n

We rounded up some of our favorite (and least-favorite) moments from the week below.<\/p>\n

The highs<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Getting Heated<\/em><\/strong>: Warner Bros. Discovery execs know that even ad buyers love Heated Rivalry<\/em>\u2014we spotted some upfront attendees taking pictures with the show\u2019s poster before and after the presentation. So it\u2019s no surprise the company started the morning with two of the show\u2019s stars, Francois Arnaud and Robbie Graham-Kuntz, and spelled out how the company\u2019s entertainment properties dominate culture. Later in the show, execs ribbed buyers on being among the many who \u201cwants a piece figuratively and literally\u201d of the show\u2019s stars. Truer words have perhaps never been spoken.<\/p>\n

Holding a tune: <\/strong>Singer Kacey Musgraves took to the Amazon upfront to perform her hits \u201cDry Spell\u201d and \u201cButterflies\u201d; Disney treated attendees to a three-song Olivia Rodrigo set featuring \u201cdrop dead,\u201d \u201cgood 4 u,\u201d and \u201cget him back!\u201d; and Chappell Roan closed out the week at YouTube\u2019s Brandcast with \u201cGood Luck, Babe!,\u201d \u201cHOT TO GO!,\u201d \u201cThe Subway,\u201d and \u201cPink Pony Club.\u201d All in all, a steal for marketers who would have otherwise had to spend thousands on concert tickets.<\/p>\n

Dog days:<\/strong> At Netflix, which will host this year\u2019s Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, three champion dogs trotted around the crowd in their best\u2014and cutest\u2014form. And earlier in the day at Warner Bros. Discovery, some of the Puppy Bowl<\/em> stars made an onstage appearance before attendees were encouraged to consider adopting a pup in need of a good home. Thanks, we\u2019ll take five.<\/p>\n

Joke\u2019s on you:<\/strong> It wouldn\u2019t be upfronts week without some late-night comedians taking swings at their employers, the ad world, and the general state of things\u2014and comedians including Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel didn\u2019t hold back. \u201cUsually for ABC to pull you off the air, you have to throw a chair at your Mormon boyfriend,\u201d Kimmel said, referencing both the reason why the latest season of ABC\u2019s The Bachelorette <\/em>was cancelled and the temporary suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live.<\/em> We rounded up some of our favorite jokes from the week here.<\/p>\n

The lows<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Song and dance: <\/strong>Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers of Las Culturistas <\/em>fame kicked off NBCUniversal\u2019s upfront with plenty of great jokes\u2014but were then tasked with singing and dancing to a parody version of \u201cAPT.\u201d by ROS\u00c9 and Bruno Mars, with the lyrics changed to \u201cAds on NBC. And Peacock, Peacock.\u201d Sorry, but, I don\u2019t think so, honey.<\/p>\n

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Fake out:<\/strong> At the Javits Center, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hit the Disney upfront stage, bringing out Monday Night Football<\/em> commentator Joe Buck. Buck made a show of giving Goodell a big hug hello, poking fun at college players who hug the commissioner at the NFL Draft. It\u2019s kind of endearing when young draftees do it. Less so when it\u2019s two grown men embracing each other to sell ads.<\/p>\n

Kick the habit: <\/strong>At the Fox upfront, former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski bounced a soccer ball into the crowd, reminding us of when Gronk didn\u2019t catch a pass from his former QB Tom Brady at Fox\u2019s presentation last year, and Brady\u2019s throw hit an audience member instead. Tennis legend Billie Jean King hit tennis balls into the crowd at the Disney upfront, a perhaps safer projectile in terms of size, but another reminder that attendees must stay vigilant during these things\u2014or risk getting a bruise to more than just their ego.<\/p>\n

Anywhere but here:<\/strong> Sometimes you can tell the stars are contractually obligated to make appearances on the upfronts stage, and none were more obviously less-than-thrilled to be there than Pete Davidson. At Netflix\u2019s event, the comedian was supposed to read some lines from a teleprompter about his video podcast, The Pete Davidson Show<\/em>, and strayed from the script several times to point out exactly how corny the whole thing was. The antics may have made the room laugh, but his ending, which did not appear on the teleprompter? \u201cI am going to commit suicide.\u201d\u2026Yikes!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Upfronts week only comes once a year, but the memories will last forever. Our team once again had the pleasure of covering media companies\u2019 biggest pitches to the advertising world, and there were plenty of highlights\u2014and lowlights. Across the star-studded performances, stand-up routines, and celebrity appearances, there were plenty of memorable moments. We rounded up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-marketing"},"yoast_head":"\nThe highs and lows from this year\u2019s upfronts | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Upfronts week only comes once a year, but the memories will last forever.Our team once again had the pleasure of covering media companies\u2019 biggest pitches\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=23334\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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