This Media Buying Briefing covers the latest in agency news and media buying for Digiday+ members and is distributed over email every Monday at 10 a.m. ET. More from the series →The 2026 upfront marketplace has begun to move, with both holding company media agencies as well as some independents cutting deals, principally with media sellers that control both linear TV and streaming options. As expected, sports inventory is the principal bait that sellers have put on their hooks to land client dollars — but haggling over pricing and placement in Super Bowl LXI next February has slowed down some negotiations.
Some holding company media agencies are keeping their plans and negotiations close to the vest at this point in the marketplace. And the $20-billion-plus selling season is probably close to about 10-15% complete — mostly with the linear media sellers (NBC Universal, Paramount, Disney, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery), but including a smattering of business done with digital-first or digital-only sellers (the major platforms), according to one holding company investment executive who spoke on condition of anonymity. The other holding companies reached for this story declined to comment.
