YouTube's Upfront Challenge: Pitching a Creator Economy to Old-School Madison Avenue

When Brian Albert first started leading upfront negotiations for YouTube 12 years ago, there were still over 100 million cable TV subscribers in the U.S., and YouTube was still seen as a desktop video platform. By the end of 2024, that number dropped to roughly 70 million cable TV subscribers as YouTube accounted for a staggering 11.1% of all TV viewership in December. Since YouTube moved from the tech-focused newfronts to the more content-focused upfronts in 2022, the company has paid out over $70 billion to more than three million creators. Additionally, YouTube routinely leads Nielsen's . . .