Exclusive: IAB moves NewFronts and adds CreatorFronts
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Amazon NewFronts 2023 at David Geffen Hall on May 1, 2023 in New York City. Photo: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Amazon
The Interactive Advertising Bureau is moving the timing of NewFronts, its annual digital video showcase, and launching a new event around creators, CEO David Cohen exclusively tells Axios.
Why it matters: The changes mark one of the IAB's biggest rethinks of its ad marketplace events and underscore how ad buyers and sellers are adapting to earlier planning windows and the rise of the creator economy.
Driving the news: IAB NewFronts, typically held in late April and early May, are being moved up to March 23 to 26, 2026.
- Next fall, the IAB will debut the CreatorFronts. They will take place alongside the Podcast Upfront and the PlayFronts (for gaming and immersive media), running from Sept. 15 to 17.
- All events will take place in New York. The NewFronts will be livestreamed and held at participants' chosen venues, with IAB Main Stage set for March 25. The IAB will host the September events at Convene 360 Madison and include virtual viewing.
Zoom in: IAB's decision to move the NewFronts is in response to feedback that the previous timing was crowded with other events and too late in the planning cycle, Cohen says.
- "I remember back on my agency days, seven years ago, that the upfront conversation started around Christmas," says Cohen, who worked at Magna prior to IAB. "CES was the kickoff to upfront conversation. So there was nothing magical about May for the NewFronts."
- The consolidation of events around creators, podcasts and gaming into one week increases the incentive for more buyers to come, not just the "usual cast of characters," Cohen says.
- Launching a CreatorFronts is a "recognition of the level of maturity and advertiser readiness in the creator space," Cohen says. Earlier this year, the IAB launched the Creator Economy Board.
Zoom out: As the buying process has evolved and digital players, like Amazon and YouTube, have opted to participate during the TV upfronts season, the NewFronts' value has been up for debate.
- Cohen says he has long contemplated the role of the upfronts and NewFronts. But he stressed the value of a shared marketplace moment to discuss and align on priorities and partnerships.
- "I do think that there is value in bringing the market together — buyers and sellers — for a showcase of the best that we have to offer, in content, in technology, in measurement," Cohen says.
Between the lines: Founded in 1996 as a trade association for the online media and marketing industries, the IAB now has more than 700 members, including publishers, brands, agencies and Big Tech companies.
- Cohen says the IAB will evaluate the changes based on the attendance, engagement and feedback from presenters and attendees.
What's next: Cohen says the vast majority of presenters will be returning to the NewFronts this year. IAB will release the schedule early next year.
