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The 2025 IAB NewFronts took us to the Year 3000.
In addition to companies from across the digital video landscape presenting the future of tech and data to marketers all week, celebrities, including “Year 3000” singers the Jonas Brothers, graced the NewFront stages, bringing exclusive announcements, performances, and surprises.
ADWEEK reporters were all over New York covering the NewFronts events, so you didn’t have to be. And we saw it all, from 50 Cent pontificating about LG Ads to Cynthia Erivo defying gravity for Snapchat. Plus, the IAB Main Stage even brought a spoof of Chicago’s “Cell Block Tango” in between.
Without further ado, here are the best moments from the 2025 NewFronts week:
[50 Cent Voice] You Can Find Me in the… LG Ads Presentation
During the LG Ad Solutions NewFronts, the company announced that it recently launched the 50 Cent Action Channel on LG Channels, which will be curated by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson himself. The “In da Club” rapper-turned-entrepreneur even made an appearance during the presentation and during the reception, where he thanked everyone for their support. — Saleah Blancaflor
The takeover continues! 50Cent Action hits LG Channels in April. Same fire, brand new platform • https://t.co/zV4PzIG4sU pic.twitter.com/r45uTbYZrM
— 50cent (@50cent) April 2, 2025
Revry Steals the Show at IAB Main Stage
The LGBTQ+ platform Revry is justly famed for regularly serving Broadway flair on the IAB Main Stage, but this year, they almost disappointed. Co-founder and CEO Damian Pelliccione vowed that there would be no musical numbers at the top of his presentation, inspiring disappointed groans from the audience. Fortunately, he changed his tune midway through, as a mention of Revry’s preferred ad exchange PrismRiot cued up a filmed spoof of the iconic “Cell Block Tango” from Chicago. That brought the windowless room a welcome ray of (Miss Mary) sunshine. — Ethan Alter
Live From New York, It’s T-Mobile
If you’re going to get a Saturday Night Live cast member out of bed before nine on a Tuesday, at least put on a show worth their time. SNL star Marcello Hernández joined his mom and fellow T-Mobile spokesperson Isabel Cancela for T-Mobile Advertising’s NewFronts presentation largely to be funny in sunglasses, note that he’s typically not up at a time that ends in “a.m.,” and was there “to talk about ad solutions”—which got a laugh from the buyers—before the T-Ads team broke into its pitch about data and connections.
After purchasing out-of-home platform Vistar Media and geography-based, privacy-focused ad targeting firm Blis earlier this year, T-Mobile partnered with IPG Mediabrands as it sells brands on T-Ads data that’s flowing through Vistar’s out-of-home signage, billboards, and retail media screens. Part of the end game, as chief T-Ads officer JP Colaco noted, is to sell brands outdoor ads and full retail-media infrastructure that targets consumers based on regional data and app use at various hours of the day… whether Marcello’s awake or not. — Jason Notte
Yahoo is Unlimited With Russell Wilson
During Yahoo’s NewFronts presentation hosted 101 floors above the ground at The Edge in Manhattan, attendees were treated to a surprise visit from New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson and former NBA player (and ADWEEK cover star) Carmelo Anthony. The two joined Rich Kleiman, co-founder of Boardroom, to tease Kleinman’s upcoming web series Network with Rich Kleiman. Anthony bonded with Wilson about the fact that they both have played for New York teams (Anthony previously played with the Knicks from 2011-2017). “Embrace New York and New York will embrace you,” Anthony said to Wilson at one point. — S.B.
YouTube Gets Creative With Creators
YouTube is making a big play for brand dollars with a slate of new features designed to help marketers connect with creators and source insights on creator content. To add some levity to its pitch, it paraded a group of popular YouTubers out onto its NewFront stage in Manhattan on Thursday. Fashion and lifestyle influencer Ashley Alexander, playground interviewer Julian Shapiro-Barnum, and college prep educator Gohar Khan joined Google’s John Battaglia, who heads the company’s social video and influencer business, in a chipper conversation about their journeys as creators, how they leverage the platform’s various tools, and their approach to working with brands.
Then, to add to the creator love, YouTube welcomed the hosts of the Pretty Basic podcast, Alisha Marie and Remi Cruz, who recorded a special live episode in which they unpacked case studies detailing how Fabletics, Louis Vuitton, and Sephora each worked with creators to execute YouTube ad campaigns. — Kendra Barnett
David Letterman Wasn’t a Late Show at Samsung Ads’ Event
We’re a sucker for you, Jonas Brothers. But, no offense here, your appearance at Samsung Ads’ NewFronts event to announce your upcoming tour on Samsung TV Plus was outshone by David Letterman himself. Letterman joined Sang Kim, svp at Samsung Electronics, during the presentation to chat about his new FAST channel on Samsung TV. This month marks the 10th anniversary of Letterman’s Late Show exit, and the legendary late-night host noted that having a curated experience on Samsung TV was more ideal for the series than simply having people watch random clips floating around the internet. Deadline captured part of the chat, so you can see why this would always make our Top 10 List. — Bill Bradley
David Letterman discussing the logo for his new FAST channel at Samsung’s NewFronts presentation in New York pic.twitter.com/LiTqgUWSwI
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) May 6, 2025
Google Trades Cookies for Pizza
At its NewFront event this week, Google went all in on Display and Video 360, bringing new generative AI tools and a retail media solution into the advertising platform. One feature enables advertisers to describe target audiences in plain language and receive curated inventory recommendations. Built on Gemini models, the updates also include AI-powered reporting and support for live event inventory like NFL Sunday Ticket. The NewFront presentation, held at Google’s St. John’s Terminal location in Manhattan, culminated with Bill Reardon, gm of enterprise platform for Google Ads, demoing DV360’s new AI tools with an example of a fictional Chicago deep dish pizza company building its own campaign.
Wrapping up the event, Reardon joked that while Google didn’t have pizza to share with the audience, it did have cookies—an apparent joke about the tech titan’s recent U-turn on cookie deprecation on Chrome. Staffers then appeared in the crowd, passing out pizza-shaped cookies to attendees. — K.B.
Where’s Waldo-Mart?
The big question on ad buyers’ minds going into Vizio’s NewFront presentation this year was how much Walmart would be a part of Vizio’s pitch. But by the looks of the bright, light-filled space at New York’s The Penn District, where the event took place, the quick answer was: not much. Vizio seemed to be running its own show with a handful of Walmart ad executives sprinkled into the audience. Walmart chief growth officer Seth Dallaire briefly chatted with Vizio CEO William Wang about why America’s largest retailer acquired the smart TV manufacturer.
“There’s a lot of adjacency with advertising at Walmart,” Dallaire said. — Lauren Johnson
Tubi Goes Primetime
The Tubi NewFronts presentation was a star-studded event with Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders and radio personality Rocsi Diaz emceeing the event. Stubios creators like Kelon Campbell, Grant Gibbs, and Ashley Gill were brought on stage to discuss their projects. But perhaps one of the most notable moments was when Tubo CMO Nicole Parlapiano brought out creator Noah Beck, who has more than 47 million followers across social media, and actress Siena Agudong to discuss their upcoming movie Sidelined 2: Intercepted following the success of last year’s Sidelined, which brought in 5.5 million viewers in seven days. It’s a creator-filled future, and we’re just living in it. — S.B.
New York Times’ New Take on News
At The New York Times’ first NewFront since 2019, far and away the most notable element of the presentation was just how little the Grey Lady talked about the news. This was intentional, of course: The Times wanted to impress upon the audience of marketers that its lifestyle properties, several of which did not even exist six years ago, had transformed what the organization meant to audiences. Games, Wirecutter, The Athletic, and Cooking all shared the spotlight equally, with each debuting new video series, products, and ad formats. With this new focus, and one-third of its audience now coming from Gen Z, it is clear that the publisher has remade itself for a new era. — Mark Stenberg
Cynthia Erivo Is Wickedly Good for Snapchat
Snapchat made several announcements, from a new brand campaign to a new music series, and ways for advertisers to better connect with Snapchatters. But the most standout moment was when Cynthia Erivo closed out the show with covers of John Lennon’s “Imagine” and “Feeling Good.” By the end of her performance, the whole room was up on their feet and cheering. It made me feel like I could defy gravity all night long. What a wicked way to end NewFronts week. — S.B.
Cynthia Erivo performing “Feeling Good” at the @Snapchat NewFront pic.twitter.com/j0h8gU9BbI
— Saleah Blancaflor (@saleyley) May 8, 2025
