Samsung Ads
Conan O’Brien earned the title of Adweek’s 2022 Media Visionary for his influence across late-night, broadcast, cable, podcasting and streaming. And at Samsung Ads’ NewFronts presentation, Cathy Oh, vp global head of marketing at Samsung Ads, announced that the comedian’s first FAST channel is coming to Samsung TV Plus. The comedian even sent in a video message highlighting his 24/7 curated programming. It’d be difficult for O’Brien to repeat as Adweek’s Media Visionary, but he’s coming up the rankings … FAST. —Bill Bradley
Snap
Hosting its NewFronts at Lincoln Center’s Rose, Snap continued its saga of touting its creator arsenal. This time, the platform brought mega personalities from the world of sports, including Sue Bird and Carli Lloyd. But Snap’s pitch to introduce sponsored links to its AI chatbot, My AI, was the most intriguing announcement. As more brands dip their toes into leveraging AI, how this tastefully develops and contributes to Snap’s revenue is worth tracking. Unlike the kale salad that was served, which was just bitter. Not a fan! — Trishla Ostwal
Peacock
From the long line of protesters stationed outside Center415, there was no question where Peacock was holding its NewFronts event. With the Hollywood writers strike kicking off on Tuesday, the picketers semi-blocking the entrance to Peacock’s event sent a strong message. And with rumors that talent may have even skipped out of the event to avoid crossing the picket line, it seems that message was received. — B.B.
Roku
While Roku’s event was packed with celebrities including Jessica Alba, Sofia Vergara, Weird Al and more, the company brought out singer/songwriter Charlie Puth to close the presentation and announce his upcoming show Charlie Makes a Record (working title) to the surprise of attendees. After riffing for several minutes on the piano about what he should call his series, he finished by writing the “theme song”—which included telling buyers to spend on Roku and asking what ROI and CPM are. — M.C.
Yahoo
After a one-year break, Yahoo returned to NewFronts week with a Chance the Rapper concert. The event was more party than presentation. And Chance even revealed an early Yahoo connection: The Grammy-award-winning artist’s username was “2hot4u” on Yahoo’s now-defunct messenger service. — C.P.
Condé Nast
During the Condé Nast NewFront event, the president of Condé Nast Entertainment, Agnes Chu, introduced a new series for GQ featuring the street stylist Mordechai Rubinstein by inviting “Mort,” who was seated in the audience, to conduct a spontaneous fit check. Mort turned to the man next to him and asked him to describe his outfit, which turned out to be a vintage Ralph Lauren suit, a collarless linen button-up thrifted in Japan and golden-orange brogues—by all accounts, an outstanding look. But alas, the moment was too good to be true: The man in question was a plant, a Condé Nast executive who knew of the stunt beforehand and dressed accordingly. But with Anna Wintour looking on from the front row, wouldn’t you do the same? — Mark Stenberg
