YouTube’s Sean Downey on NFL Sunday Ticket and Upfront Talks

You’ll stick with Wednesday night instead of Tuesday night like last year?
We haven’t decided on the dates for next year, but we’re deciding that soon.

Is there anything you can share about early negotiations?
Well, I can’t comment on specific negotiations or customers. I will say we’ve had a lot of fantastic discussions with our advertisers leading up to the upfront, to Brandcast and certainly after. I’ll say the excitement was really high. People loved what we had to offer. They understand the value that YouTube is bringing to their brands. And they’re working with us diligently to make sure that they can spotlight and grow their brands on YouTube.

What message do you want marketers to take away from the presentation?
We wanted to make sure they understood that this is where the world comes to watch. And if you’re looking to find viewers that you want to build your brand with, YouTube is the place. No matter what type of content they’re watching, we want them to know that they can get great reach of those viewers, they had the ability to drive ROI from their budgets and it’s the place that performs, and I think we accomplished all those goals.

Now that the event is over, is there anything you want to do differently for next year?
We’re happy. We had a great turnout, and we got all the messages that we wanted across, and we had great feedback and engagement for them. We’re happy with the outcome. I think we’ll continue to make sure we can showcase YouTube talent next year that’s different. That’s the best thing about YouTube is the creator is always evolving. They’re always challenging the status quo about what content looks like. We’ll be looking forward to showcasing the next great thing that YouTube delivers next year.

Lastly, will we see YouTube back at upfront week next year?
We will be there. That is the place where YouTube belongs. We have the reach that our customers want. And this is where the world comes to watch, and this is where brands can build their business with us here.

Additional reporting by Bill Bradley.