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IAB NewFronts 2026: CreatorFronts and a New Upfront Rhythm
The 2026 IAB NewFronts (March 23–26) delivered a purposeful calendar change and product-level shifts for marketers, with the IAB moving its marquee marketplace earlier in the year and introducing a dedicated creator marketplace called CreatorFronts; details and the full agenda are available on the IAB’s event page, which outlines the March 23–26 schedule and main-stage programming. IAB’s NewFronts page provides the event agenda and livestream access for brand and agency attendees.
One of the week’s headline developments was the formal creation of CreatorFronts, an industry marketplace intended to make creator partnerships easier to plan and buy alongside traditional video inventory. The IAB framed this move as a way to integrate creator-led content into annual media planning cycles; the organization explained the rationale and program goals in its announcement about the 2026 NewFronts program. IAB’s announcement highlights CreatorFronts and the focus on commerce, CTV, and AI-powered video measurement.
Practically, the consolidation also folds podcast and gaming marketplaces into the NewFronts week, creating a single planning window where brands can evaluate premium streaming, creator, podcast, and gaming inventory together. That change signals a shift toward unified cross‑format buying, so marketers can weigh creator activations and CTV buys in the same planning conversation rather than in separate calendars. The IAB announcement lays out that consolidation as part of a broader marketplace redesign.
For marketers this matters in three ways: timing, measurement, and inventory. Moving NewFronts to March gives teams earlier line-of-sight into premium video and creator opportunities ahead of Q3 planning; the IAB is also emphasizing outcome-based measurement for streaming inventory and creator campaigns, which aims to reduce reliance on impressions-only KPIs. You can review the IAB program and speaker lineup to see which partners are presenting measurement and commerce solutions. Read IAB’s release for examples of the platforms and topics showcased on the IAB Main Stage on March 25.
Actionable implications: brand teams should update media calendars to include a March upfront review, create cross-functional briefs that compare creator and CTV outcomes, and test joint negotiation playbooks that combine creator bundles with streaming buys. Agencies that map creator audiences to CTV cohorts will have an immediate advantage in the new unified marketplace.
In short, last week’s IAB NewFronts reframes the way marketers plan video and creator investments by combining previously separate marketplaces and by giving creators an explicit, buyable marketplace. Marketers should treat the March shift as an opportunity to align creative, commerce, and measurement earlier in the year so they can secure integrated deals and clearer outcome-based measurement during the year ahead.
