TelevisaUnivision has wrapped up its upfront negotiations, touting “historic” volume driven by its ViX streaming service, which recently surpassed 10 million subscribers globally.
Still, the Spanish-language-focused media company’s overall volume was “consistent” with the year prior, an individual familiar with the matter tells TheWrap.
The company said its live portfolio in music, sports and primetime, as well as new initiatives such as ViX Música and YA Fest, drove a record number of upfront clients. The company touted double-digit growth in the pharmaceutical category compared to the previous year, for instance.
The upfront results come as TelevisaUnivision reported a 5% drop in ad revenue to $742 million in its second quarter of 2025. The Mexico segment fell 11% to $287 million, while the U.S. segment fell 2% to $455 million. The company previously warned investors that its quarterly results would be impacted by softness in U.S. advertising revenue.
It also follows the exit of TelevisaUnivision ad sales president Donna Speciale, who stepped down from her role in June — less than a month after the company’s upfront presentation. She has been replaced by Tim Natividad.
“TelevisaUnivision’s upfront is a powerful proof point of how we’ve modernized our content and capabilities to meet the evolving needs of our customers across all mediums — traditional network, mobile, social and digital,” Natividad said in a statement on Wednesday. “As the definitive voice of the U.S. Hispanic audience, we combine that cultural leadership with technological sophistication to deliver smarter solutions that place brands within the most compelling live and experiential content, alongside the fastest-growing consumer base in the country.”
In addition to TelevisaUnivision, Disney recently closed its upfront negotiations, touting increased sales in sports and streaming and overall volume consistent with the previous year. Streaming accounted for over 40% of total upfront volume, while sports ad volume across linear and addressable hit nearly $4 billion.
Fox exceeded $2 billion in upfront revenue on core properties, excluding the World Cup, representing double-digit growth year-over-year. It also saw Tubi’s volume of upfront ad dollars committed grow by 35% year-over-year.
NBCUniversal saw a 15% increase in commitments across its broadcast offerings, including news, sports and entertainment, and touted its largest digital upfront and strongest sports upfront in history, though it offered no hard numbers.
Peacock saw an over 20% year-over-year increase, representing nearly a third of the media giant’s total upfront commitments. The company’s new 11-year media rights deal with the NBA contributed to a 20% increase in new clients compared to the 2024-25 season and a 45% year-over-year increase in volume. Over 25% of NBCUniversal’s NBA advertisers will be new to broadcast this year. Bravo represented nearly 20% of the company’s entire entertainment demand across broadcast and cable and Versant saw a nearly 10% increase in clients investing in its brands.
Meanwhile, Netflix executives told analysts during the company’s second quarter earnings call in July that the “vast majority” of its upfront deals with the major agencies have been completed. “Those results have generally been in line or slightly better than our targets, and consistent with our goal to roughly double the ads business this year,” Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said.
