Jeff Collins, president of advertising sales, marketing and brand partnerships for Fox Entertainment, pointed out that the expanded audience network and ad tech, AdRise, it launched last month is now behind the company’s OneFox inventory platform—which should make it easier for companies to find better reach and control among all Fox’s offerings. He also noted that a collaboration with Amazon Publisher Cloud uses shopping, browsing and streaming insights to let brands measure campaigns across Fox’s streaming portfolio.
Fox seems to know where much of that inventory demand will lie within the next year or so.
“This year, more audiences will come than ever before as we host Super Bowl 59 from New Orleans, a presidential election where more consumers will turn to Fox News and, down the road, the first men’s World Cup on American soil in 32 years,” Collins said in his pitch to media buyers. “Because our audiences are growing, it means we can invest back into fully ad-supported content for you.”
Flush with football
In 2023, six of the Top 10 television programs and ten of the Top 20 were Fox NFL broadcasts. With roughly ten months until Fox airs the Super Bowl, its upfront event was unsurprisingly heavy on football.
College football host Gus Johnson brought out Hall of Famer and University of Colorado coach Deion Sanders to talk about Fox’s Big Noon pregame show, the upcoming season and the pregame rituals and NFL prospects of Sanders’ son—Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
While Fox touted its Tubi ad-supported streamer’s 63% growth, its Stubios fan-driven creative studios and partnership with Issa Rae, its audience of 60% cord-cutters and cord nevers and 90% on-demand viewing—backing it with appearances from The Z Suite star Lauren Graham and The QB Bad Boy and Me leads Noah Beck and Siena Agudong—even it was tied to football coverage.
Model/actress Olivia Culpo will host a “purple carpet” on Tubi as part of Super Bowl 59 pregame coverage. While previewing the special, Culpo asked Fox sideline reporter Erin Andrews for a red-and-gold windbreaker from Andrews’ wear collection and Andrews alluding to Culpo’s fiance—San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey.
Finally, Strahan wrapped up the upfront by not only noting that Nielsen will be expanding its out-of-home panel just in time for Super Bowl 59 but by bringing out the newest NFL on Fox commentator and seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady—who just received a 10-year, $375 million commitment from Fox for his services. After a few jokes about Strahan hitting Brady (including during Brady’s loss to Strahan’s New York Giants in Super Bowl 42), Strahan announced that Brady’s first game in the booth would feature the Dallas Cowboys.
