Paramount cooked up a storm at its upfront event in Melbourne, literally and figuratively.
Media buyers and marketers were treated to one of the finest spreads of canapés and bites, all courtesy of Masterchef judge Andy Allen and his team of talented chefs (check out the photo gallery above).
As the event was being held in the Masterchef kitchen, this should come as a huge surprise, but the Paramount team, led by boss Beverly McGarvey delivered a masterclass in providing just enough tasty content and ad innovation treats, while making sure guests were entertained.
“A few weeks ago, Paramount and Warner Brothers came together as Skydance, two of the most iconic studios in the world, powered by stories, accelerated by technology.
“Today, we will show you why we earn our place in every 2027 media plan,” said McGarvey, president of Network 10 and head of streaming at Paramount ANZ.
“The strength of our business is the unique combination of global IP, local franchises, live sport, trusted news, Australian comedy, and fast-growing streaming scale. We are programming for consistency, impact, and advertiser demand. Paramount is a must-buy partner, reaching 16.6 million Australians every month, and this is more than a content space. It is a year-round commercial platform for agencies, clients and sponsors.”
There can be no doubting the strength of Paramount and Network Ten’s content slate.
It is the home of tentpole programming including Masterchef, Australian Survivor, The Traitors, Big Brother and the return of Australian Ninja Warrior.
On Paramount+ it has hit shows Mobland, The Tulsa King, The Mayor of Kingstown and most of the Yellowstone universe, including the excellent 1883 and 1923.
On the sports front, Paramount has acquired the rights to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil and the Men’s Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia, while Sam Kerr’s children’s book series is being brought to life.
Increasingly, there are brand integration and shoppable ad units across the Paramount ecosystem, and Paramount Connect makes it much easier to transact across Network Ten’s linear, 10 streaming, Paramount Plus and Pluto with one connected sales approach.
“We have built our sales structure around the way the market now buys video. One team, one conversation, one connected approach across national linear television, BVOD, SVOD, and Fast,” Paramount ANZ VP of sales Grant Madigan said.
“Paramount Connect is designed to take complexity out of premium video buying. It gives advertisers one entry point into 10 Streaming and Paramount Plus, with unified trading packages, a single customer view, and frequency management across our ecosystem.
“More than 70 campaigns have already run through the platform. That momentum tells us clients want premium audiences with less friction, better control, and a cleaner path to delivery.”
Paramount president of ad sales international markets explained that Paramount is working to build a Paramount seller agency powered by AI.
“We put brands inside the moments audiences choose in entertainment, sports, and live events with real attention and cultural pull,” he said
“In the last year alone, that meant contextual ads in Big Brother with Kerv, picture-in-picture breaks across the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, and stand-out integrations inside this very kitchen. Now, in 2027, we go bigger with major tent poles built for scale, energy, and repeat engagement.”
Industry reaction
Media agency executives were impressed with the event and a renewed sense of confidence at Paramount ANZ, in spite of the uncertainty caused by parent company Skydance’s plans to cost out $6 billion as a result of the Warner Bros merger.
Starcom’s chief commercial and operating officer Lousie Romeo thought the event was “excellent”.
“Paramount has demonstrated a huge amount of transformation over the last few years, and their 27 upfronts really showcase the strength of their offering and all the elements that they have in place. I think they should be admired for their renewed energy, their sense of ambition, vibrancy, and energy,” she told B&T on the sidelines of the event.
“The new and returning formats will give advertisers the ability to reach high-value audiences and have more reasons to come back through their content slate, all underpinned by technology. I think the other thing that stood out was they talked very much around business outcomes.”
Initiative Australia national managing director Paige Wheaton told B&T that Paramount “nailed the balance this year”.
“It was confident, well-paced and refreshingly disciplined about what deserved the spotlight. Rather than an Upfront where everything is positioned as the next big thing, there was a clear hierarchy to the announcements and a strong balance of global firepower and genuinely compelling local content,” she said.
“The story was simple, and stronger for it: great content, a more connected streaming proposition and more ways for brands to play a meaningful role within it.”
EssenceMediacom group director of implementation and activation Bree Karwan said that Paramount delivered on their promise to be “powered by story, accelerated by technology” in their 2027 Upfronts presentation.
“They’re cementing 10 as the king of comedy in Australia, supported by a strong slate of local and global content on Paramount+ that showcases their strength in storytelling across drama, sport and entertainment.”
The hits & misses
Media executives praised Paramount’s content slate, particular its tent pole programming.
“Content-wise, Paramount has plenty of big cultural swings for 2027 which landed strongly for me. Australian Ninja Warrior brings back a big, loud entertainment property, while MasterChef, Survivor and The Traitors deliver the franchises audiences already know and love.” Wheaton said.
“Add the FIFA Women’s World Cup and there are some genuinely significant moments for brands to show up around, rather than simply advertise against.”
Romeo agreed, adding: “The FIFA Women’s World Cup is going to be a glorious event. So it’s great that Paramount have something meaningful to demonstrate from this code of football, and it gives them some incredibly valuable and large moments to attract audiences. And the fact that they can bring that to all Australians is a remarkable proposition.”
It’s not that Paramount has some genuinely huge cultural moments coming up, media executives are excited about what brands can do with it.
An example that Karwan points out is the introduction of Game Day Highlighter, which leverages AI technology to improve how brands show up in sport.
“Sporting events have become a major focus for many of our clients who are seeing huge value in aligning with cultural moments, conversations and fandoms that exist around the game. But after the massive success of the Women’s World Cup in 2023 and the Men’s World Cup earlier this year, it’s become a more cluttered advertising environment especially for those with smaller marketing budgets,” she said.
“Our challenge as an agency now is how we anticipate the big moments that will captivate audiences and ignite conversation, so we can embed our brands where their media spend will work the hardest.”
Not every innovation has hit the mark. Wheaton points out that more technology doesn’t automatically mean a better ad experience.
“Am I sold on the pause to shop ad unit and how it comes to life yet, the jury is still out. The winners will be integrations that feel native to the viewing experience, add something for the consumer and earn attention rather than interrupt it. The tech should make the idea better, not be the idea,” she said.
“Paramount looks increasingly comfortable in its own skin. Its advantage is the ability to bring global scale and content together with strong local programming and talent, then connect that across broadcast and streaming.
“For me, the interesting shift is that the conversation is becoming less about where an ad appears and more about what a brand can do around the content. That’s a much more compelling place for Paramount to play.”
Paramount’s Upfront was a confident, polished and accomplished showing. The content slate and ad tech innovations (largely) have been well received by the market.
There is still uncertainty about what lies in the year ahead as its global parent company Skydance looks to cut costs across the media behemoth.
Nonetheless, it’s business as usual for now, and there are plenty of positives that the market will have taken away from its Masterchef themed event.
