Amazon Holds Prime Spot in 2026 Upfront Parade

As 2026 begins, we are reminded that while the world is evolving rapidly, there are parts of the media and advertising business that change slowly and reluctantly.

The TV business has been invaded by powerful, giant tech companies which have sought to impose the more efficient processes of the digital world on a tradition-bound industry. One tradition that seems to be not just surviving the onslaught, but thriving is the annual upfront.

The string of glitzy events designed to show off next season’s programming for advertisers survives, supplemented by talk about advanced data-enriched targeting technology. TV companies are making bigger and bigger splashes at CES in January to demonstrate how they’re making commercials more effective.

Also surviving is the upfront marketplace, where deals are made and prices are set for the bulk of the year’s television advertising. This is mainly still done by hand, as opposed to programmatic technology.

The latest example is Amazon. Despite being one of the most sophisticated tech companies when it comes to advertising, Amazon Advertising announced plans to hold an upfront presentation at the Beacon Theatre in New York on May 11, the first night of the traditional upfront week. This will be a return for Amazon, which held its 2025 upfront event at the Beacon.

NBCUniversal and Fox have already announced they will be holding their upfront ad-stravaganzas on May 11 as well. Disney said it will be returning to the Javits Center for its upfront on May 12.

Originally it was only broadcasters that took over venues such as Radio City Music Hall and Carnegie Hall to try to impress marketers during upfront week. The events featured stars of stage and screen, sports heroes, and musical acts. Lavish receptions followed the events. Eventually cable programmers got into the act, and now it's the streamers–Amazon, YouTube, Netflix–that are following suit.

Amazon says the event will highlight new tech capabilities from Amazon Ads, as well as a lineup of talent from Prime Video, Prime Sports, Amazon MGM Studios, Twitch, Wondery and Amazon Music.

“Brands are seeking premium content, supported by advertising solutions that are simpler, faster, and performance-driven,” said Alan Moss, VP global ad sales at Amazon Ads. “By pairing Amazon’s incredible content portfolio with authenticated audience signals and dynamic creative capabilities, we’re helping advertisers deliver more relevant messages to consumers across the full funnel—while driving best-in-class performance and business impact.”

Amazon Prime became a bigger force in the streaming video ad business when it decided that all of the subscribers to Prime Video would get ads unless they paid to opt out. (Subscribers see commercials in sports programming no matter what they do.)

Amazon says it now reaches an average of 300 million consumers monthly in the U.S. across its owned and third-party platforms.

At last year’s upfront at the Beacon, Amazon brought out stars including Michael B. Jordan, John Cena, Jason Momoa, Lizzo, the Kelce brothers, Octavia Spencer, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Lee Curtis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Amazon also announced its version of pause ads and other formats targeted using AI to be contextually relevant.

All of that seemed to work. Amazon announced that it exceeded its expectations when the dust from negotiations settled. It said it saw “significant” growth in upfront spending commitments from all the major ad agency holding companies and got an even reception from independent agencies. “We’re also continuing to launch innovative ad tech capabilities that make it easier for advertisers to plan, measure, and optimize campaigns,” the company added.

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Speaking of CES, the odds are good that folks will be talking about AI.

Samsung Ads, for example, will be showing off how it is using parent company Samsung’s proprietary AI and machine learning technology to enhance its advertising solutions, improving advertisers' ability to deliver the right message to the right consumers.

Specifically Samsung Ads says its AI come be used to improve consumer reach by enabling brands to extend their reach to untapped audiences through ML-driven targeting; contextual relevance, by placing ads in relevant contextual environments using AI-powered analysis; creative delivery, with interactive ad formats that automatically adapt to consumer profiles and moments of discovery and decision to maximize engagement; and conversion optimization and attribution, using AI to continuously maximize conversions and campaign reinvestment recommendations.

“At Samsung, we’re redefining what the screen can do by bringing together the latest AI technology and partners to transform the TV into an interactive, multi-purpose device," said Paritosh Desai, VP of AI/ML at Samsung Ads.

For conversion, Samsung Ads says it is using AI to target audiences most likely to convert and enable cross-device experiences from CTV to mobile for maximum return on ad spend. Machine learning interprets the attribution window to deliver clearer, more transparent reporting on conversion rates.

AI is also enhancing ads with formats that can include QR codes, vertical video, product galleries, fan polls, and clickable ads that send messages to consumers’ email, the company said.