Digital Content Newfronts Ad Deals Expected To Exceed $1 Billion

Last year’s Digital Content Newfronts helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars of ad money for the online video industry. According to AdAge, this year’s event is set to blow that already-impressive figure out of the water. Per a recent article in the marketing publication, the 2013 Digital Content Newfronts are set to cross ten digits, raising more than one billion dollars in advertising deals.

The increase in the DCNF’s prosperity can be attributed to several factors. One is sheer strength in numbers; this year’s event will have 18 distributors present, a 200% increase over last year. There will also be more advertisers in the know thanks to the large network of the DCNF’s new organizer, IAB. Finally (and most intriguingly), waning ratings and rising prices in the TV sphere are causing many advertisers to look online for a more

fruitful and cost-effective market. “The only way to reverse that trend [TV’s downturn] is think about video in a different way and move dollars across screens,” said Universal McCann Chief Media Officer David Cohen. “Is this the year we see a billion moving into the market? Could be.”

DCNF will begin April 29th in New York City, with several other distributors–such as Machinima and NBC Universal–holding their own events around the same time. When these peripheral events are factored in, one billion dollars seems like it could almost be a conservative estimate. While we probably won’t see Jay-Z this time around, there will be a much more important special guest: lots and lots of money.