A tale of two very different upfronts: Youtube and Foxtel

Week 2 of the upfronts saw the battle for screen share get underway in earnest.

SBS was afforded clear space in week one, but week two saw heavyweights step up to the plate*. YouTube’s Brandcast on Wednesday at the Hordern Pavilion and Foxtel on Thursday at the former White Bay Power Station.

For many years, Google has been increasingly becoming a silent behemoth in the television landscape, and it was no surprise that it laid it all on for us on Wednesday at the Hordern. No expense was spared for what was both the 20th birthday of the YouTube platform and a product launch disguised as an upfront.

YouTube is different from the others that present during upfronts season in it doesn’t control its content, and in this regard there was no big programming slate to tout. But let’s be honest — in this room of media buyers and clients nobody cared.

The expectant crowd at Youtube Brandcast (Mumbrella)

It was a damned good party with a packed house, lavish entertainment and the big announcement: new 60-second non-skippable ads and new shoppable CTV. These were always going to appeal to marketers and agencies.

The former media buyer in me wonders if poorly placed, bland 60-second ads, inserted randomly at moments of “high viewer attention” will be quite so warmly received by the audiences who receive them. The execution here will be important.

Interestingly, we were advised by Sundogs Creative founder Ben Jones to use these longer 60-second formats. According to him there were two extremes that proved to be most effective: six seconds and 60 seconds. RIP the 30-second which according to the platform was the least effective commercial length.

In messaging terms there was a disconnect here in that Youtube’s pitch (as it has been for some years) was that marketers could improve ROI campaigns by shifting funds onto Youtube from free-to-air, BVOD and SVOD. Last time I looked, the majority of these campaigns still use 30 second TVCs (which now need to be six or 60 seconds?) There’s bit of work to do on linking that message and making it easy for brands to move between mediums.

Ben continued the aquatic theme, established earlier by Olympic diver, presenter and Youtuber Sam Fricker, speaking of the dangers of being lost in “oceans of video” and the difficulty of standing out. A fair and balanced commentary, but not sure this filled advertisers in the room with confidence.

For Youtube its challenge is always that without a content slate, it relies on the growing world of creators that populate its platform. The opportunity it is riding is the short form video revolution, which is now being complemented by the rise of podcasts — something they also emphasized on Wednesday.

What was clear to the room was Youtube will continue its success through 2026 … increasingly it is the giant in the Australian TV space.

Percussion group performing at the Foxtel upfront (Mumbrella)

Onto Thursday — Foxtel at the impressive White Bay Power Station and an equally lavish party.

This was Foxtel’s first upfront since its sale to new owners DAZN and all media buyers’ eyes were on what they would say.

Again, a slick well-produced affair, but in contrast to Wednesday we were overloaded with programming content.

To kick off we were told in no uncertain terms upfront by Foxtel Media CEO Mark Frain that Foxtel had delivered on every promise from 2025. Mark was back again at the end to outline his promises for next year.

I’m always a bit suspicious in this industry of anyone marking their own homework, but it’s hard to challenge the top grade he’s given himself for last year. However, next year might be a bit tougher for Mark and the team with the “fearless tech innovation and industry leading measurement” included in this year’s promises.

Unsurprisingly, sports featured heavily and the popularity of the footy codes, netball, cricket and a host of other sports delivered impressive audience numbers and a strong rationale for commitment.

Loud pumping music and well-edited packages kept the adrenalin levels up. To calm us down, the promo videos were interspersed with messages about audience delivery and initiatives.

A retail media option and expanding into shopping were both part of the extended offering, and made sense given the growth of this space.

Some interesting highlights – we were reliably informed Housewives of Sydney managed to increase the awareness of a wine label by 57%, and consumption of the product by a factor of eight. Sydney, apparently you did us proud, setting the bar for every other Housewives show around the world.

Genevieve Hegney introducing Apocalypse (Mumbrella)

At some point in the deluge of programming announcements we were appropriately advised by Genevieve Hegney and Helen Thomson — from hit comedy Colin from Accounts — that “this was the spinoff we didn’t know we needed” a comment that will endure as one of the most honest lines spoken this upfront season.

And towards the end we were advised of an interesting new show called Apocalypse which dumps everyday folk into a deserted environment post-civilisation with none of the comforts of the modern world and not a single device that works.

Very few attending this week’s parties would last long in such an environment, but with upfronts scheduled to run through to the end of October a few of us might be yearning for solitude and silence in weeks to come.

*Note Mamamia’s upfront event was also held this week.

Stephen Wright is global media lead at TrinityP3.