Vizio Wraps Strongest Upfront in Company History, Quadrupling Spend Commitments
Author: Mollie Cahillane Source: AdWeek
Vizio became the latest connected TV company to close its 2022 upfronts negotiations, securing more than $100 million in commitments, the company said today.
Top line
That $100 million in commitments represents a four-fold increase from the upfront commitments Vizio secured a year ago. That increase was driven by enterprise-level buys from six major agency holding companies and an increased investment from categories in traditional TV such as automotive, insurance and retail.
The platform’s growing direct advertiser business is also growing, Vizio said today. In the last year, Vizio doubled the number of participating brands and tripled average revenue per advertiser coming in from that portion of the business.
Between the lines
The growth comes as Vizio, which went public earlier this year, has been aggressively courting advertising dollars for its business. During the company’s first ever NewFronts presentation this year, Vizio rolled out a set of new ad offerings, which it also attributes to increased advertiser demand.
Some of those offerings include Vizio Features, a data-informed content offering that pairs together Vizio’s first-party viewership data distribution and targeting capabilities with mainstream and emerging content partners, as well as Universal Frequency Control, which allows brands to set limits on how often a spot is delivered via Vizio’s CTV offering.
“We’ve developed an advertising business model that is unique in the industry,” said Mike O’Donnell, chief revenue officer of Vizio’s platform business,” in a statement. “We’re providing agencies with access to premium CTV inventory, the ability to target and measure with precision and access to insights that can inform their investment strategies for all linear and CTV.”
Vizio’s Platform+ business, which contains both Vizio’s SmartCast software and its data, analytics and content recognition division Inscape, recorded 146% revenue growth in the second quarter of 2021, the company previously reported.
Bottom line
Vizio’s success in this year’s upfronts reflects a larger trend of CTV platforms courting linear ad dollars. Roku, the largest CTV company, finished its talks a full quarter earlier than usual, and doubled its upfront spend commitments year-over-year, closing negotiations with all seven holding companies.
Interest in the connected TV space is only expected to continue growing. Industry-wide, connected TV ad spend is expected to jump from $8 billion in 2020 to $18 billion in 2024, according to data from eMarketer, IAB and Innovid, and overall, CTV is expected to see nearly $6 billion in 2022 upfront dollars, up from $4.5 billion in 2021, eMarketer predicts.