The hype and the hoopla of the 2016 TV Upfronts are now over. The stars have returned to their not-normal lives... So what were the big stories at this year’s Upfronts?

People are consuming digital video to LEARN. Consumers will not only search video for topics of interest, they’ll stop in their Facebook-browsing tracks,

Starting soon, we’ll begin rolling out Snap Ads between Stories. As always, we’re being incredibly thoughtful about the experience

Over a two-week and two-conference span, we experienced two very different viewpoints on the robust world of digital video.

A few weeks ago, Eicoff transformed its hallways, offices and conference rooms into a challenging and creative 9-hole mini golf course. 

Once upon a time, TV, desktop, tablet, and smartphone screens lived in happy and separate kingdoms. Isolated by technological moats and departmental fortifications, they relished their self-containment.

Facebook might be hosting upwards of 8 billion views per day on its platform, but a wide majority of that viewership is happening in silence.

As much as 85 percent of video views happen with the sound off, according to multiple publisher

The new self-serve program, called Amazon Video Direct, allows video owners to distribute directly on Amazon’s video platform. The program could be a boon for YouTube networks struggling to create new revenue streams outside of YouTube, which takes a 45 percent cut of all ad revenue generated on its platform.

As Nielsen pushes its “total audience” measurement system as the new currency for a hybrid TV and video advertising marketplace, some fundamental issues remain -- especially the fact that Nielsen will effectively be adding many more sources of video viewing to the measured universe, and consequently, will fragment the TV/video advertising marketplace beyond anything Madison Avenue has experienced to date.

Between last year's NewFronts presentation and today's, BuzzFeed's audience has grown from about 2.8 billion monthly views to more than 7 billion. Peretti called BuzzFeed "primarily a mobile company." About 75 percent of BuzzFeed's content is consumed outside its own platform, including 21 percent on Snapchat and 14 percent on YouTube.

About 65% of U.S. TV homes now have at least one TV connected to the Internet via a gaming console, streaming player, Blu-ray player or through an integrated link, up from 44% in 2013 and 24% in 2010, Leichtman Research Group (LRG) found in a new study.

Amid that surge, there are now more connected TV devices in the U.S. than pay TV set-top boxes, LRG said.

How Marketers Really Use Data
If marketers aren’t using data to identify new customer segments, what are they using it for? According to December 2014 research from eConsultancy, the most common uses for data were attribution and calculating lifetime customer value.

In recent years, the health and wellness category has exploded. Television spots for pharmaceuticals, health insurance, fitness and many health-related products and services have become ubiquitous.

As television networks enter the frenzied ad-sales period known as the “upfronts,” they would seem to have a dismal story to tell. Cord-cutting is rising, ratings are sinking and ad-free streaming services such as Netflix are on the rise.

And yet, the networks are poised for a surprisingly strong showing.

Early estimates from media buyers and analysts suggest that ad-spending commitments could increase 3% to 5% in this year’s upfront market, when the bulk of inventory for the coming TV season is showcased.

Legacy news outlets including ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and Univision, as well as digital stalwarts like The Huffington Post and Vox.com, all went live throughout Tuesday. For all of them, it was an opportunity to inform viewers about the latest primary news and results as well as what it all meant.

The study found that for 11 of those brands, sales dropped by a combined $94 million dollars, or roughly 69 percent of incremental sales that those brands could attribute to TV advertising from 2013. Essentially, for every dollar less those 11 brands spent on TV, they lost three times that amount in sales.