Fox and NBC ad chiefs, while helping unwrap their TV programming picks for 2016-2017 on Monday, took shots at digital media rivals that look to steal away billions of dollars in ad money.
At the start of the TV upfronts, where TV programmers look to wow Madison Avenue and grab some of the $9 billion in early broadcast TV commitments, Fox Networks Group head of ad sales Toby Byrne attacked comparisons with digital metrics.
Byrne ridiculed the idea that the viewership of a World Series game could be compared to those of a YouTube celebrity.
“It’s all pretty absurd,” he told the crowd at the Beacon Theater presentation.
A “World Series” game may attract 14 million viewers, or some 6.8 billion views.
Byrne attacked YouTube, making frequent references to “non-premium sub-prime video,” which, he said, receives short bursts of interest but doesn’t provide a great place for advertisers to attach their content.
Fox’s presentation to advertisers featured “Empire” actress Taraji Henson, singer Ne-Yo and Fox News Channel anchor Megyn Kelly.
Meanwhile, NBCUniversal Chairman of Advertising Sales Linda Yaccarino had a little fun with Amazon, which used TV to advertise its new digital assistant, Alexa.
“The average American spends seven times as many hours watching TV as they do on Facebook,” she said, before lamenting TV research firms.
Mariah Carey, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian and Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared at Radio City Music Hall to promote their new NBCUniversal shows and to help sway advertisers to spend.