KSM In the News
May 7, 2025 – KSM’s Sy Chaba and Kay Wesolowski were featured in an Ad Age article covering industry predictions for the 2025 TV Upfronts:
The upfronts are imminent. To prepare, Ad Age asked top media buyers and sellers for their hot takes about this year’s TV marketplace.
From “linear TV is not dead” to “live sports is not as hot as you think” and varying stances on the importance of the upfront, 18 executives weigh in on what this year’s market could bring.
Sy Chaba, executive VP, director of strategic planning, KSM Media
Advertisers will start demanding more proof of value in CTV. The conventional wisdom is that CTV is the future and “premium CTV inventory” is the gold standard. I believe there will be a growing skepticism and a push for greater accountability in the premium CTV space—“premium” is a loosely defined term.
Kay Wesolowski, senior VP, investment and partnerships, KSM Media
The quiet rise of the “consumer control” ad trend will intensify. We may see advertisers embrace on-demand ad experiences where consumers choose how they interact with ads—whether through opting into a product demo, a shoppable ad experience or other interactive formats. Upfront deals will increasingly include performance-based elements, e.g. cost-per-engagement or cost-per-purchase models, not just CPM. This shift could ultimately transform the ad sales model to one that’s less reliant on traditional bulk buys and more attuned to consumer interaction and engagement.
