Week in Charts: AI Brings Monetisation Opportunities for Publishers, Confidence Returns to Upfront Investments, and US Viewers Turn to Long-Form Creator Content

In this week’s Week in Charts, AI brings monetisation opportunities for publishers, confidence returns to upfront investments, and US viewers turn to long-form creator content.

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Upfront Share of TV Investment Returns to Pre-COVID Levels

The latest US TV upfront saw spending commitments make up 75 percent of this season’s total deal volume, according to research from Madison & Wall and Media Dynamics. The results suggest investment levels returning to their pre-COVID share as confidence returns to the market. “The pandemic created enormous uncertainty, and advertisers became reluctant to lock in as much spending months in advance,” said Madison & Wall. “That hesitation lasted well beyond 2020.”

US Adults More Likely to Watch Long-Form Video on Creator Platforms Than UK Viewers

US consumers are more inclined to watch long-form content on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok than UK consumers, according to surveys from Attest, an AI consumer insights business. The research suggests 66 percent of US adults regularly watch YouTube videos longer than 15 minutes, and 53 percent on Facebook or Instagram – compared with UK viewers at 59 and 43 percent, respectively.

Businesses Are Seeking Balance of Performance and Brand in Marketing Strategies

Brands are seeking to balance brand and performance in their marketing strategies, according to research from VAB, though larger brands are more focused on achieving this balance, with 72 percent of large-sized businesses making it their primary focus. The research suggests that small-sized businesses are fairly evenly split between those that prioritise performance and those that focus on brand, while twice as many medium-sized businesses are focused on performance versus brand.

Microdrama’s Male and Young Audiences on the Rise According to My Drama Data

Microdrama app My Drama now reports a 30 percent male audience, according to parent company Holywater and Owl & Co, up from just six percent at the end of 2024. The app’s young audience (ages 22-27) has also grown from 7.1 percent to 26 percent over the same period. “The shift matters because creative, IP licensing, and platform strategy all change when the median user gets younger,” said the report. “The 22–27 audience over-indexes on horror, sci-fi/fantasy, and in-bed viewing. They under-index on adapted IP as a viewing lever and on word-of-mouth as a discovery channel. They are, in short, a different audience to build for — and they are now a quarter of the platform.”

The Week in Stocks

Agencies

S4 Capital’s share price fell on reports that the group is being sued by three former execs from CitrusByte, a company it acquired in 2022, claiming they are owed millions from the buyout.

TV

Disney stock rose on Thursday after Morgan Stanley noted sustained strength in the company’s parks business, accelerating monetisation of its content library, and growth at Disney+.

Publishers

Thomson Reuters’ share price jumped on Monday after the media business announced the launch of Thomson, the company’s first proprietary large language model (LLM).

Ad Tech

US ad tech stocks fell on Monday amid renewed economic pressure, after Donald Trump threatened to impose sanctions against countries maintaining economic ties with Iran.

Tech

Nvidia’s stock price declined for seven straight days ahead of the chip giant’s earnings update on Wednesday, amid a broader slide in semiconductor stocks.

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