YouTube’s Ad Pitch Helped by Hollywood Upheaval

YouTube played up its longstanding relationships with creators at its Brandcast event for advertisers on Wednesday night, showing the increasing importance of creator-generated content during a tumultuous time for Hollywood. 

Such annual presentations, known as upfronts because advertisers book ad spending commitments in advance for the coming months or year, have been happening all week in New York. YouTube’s event at Lincoln Center stood out because other big companies holding upfronts, such as NBCUniversal and Disney, had to contend with the Hollywood writers’ strike that has halted production, as well as protesters showing up outside the ad events.