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Creators Push Into Upfront Territory as TV Sales Model Strains
Arcade's London upfront, Spotter's CTV event and IAB's CreatorFronts show creators borrowing TV's sales playbook — but unlimited inventory means only the top one percent will get scarcity deals.
Updated

The brief
- Arcade held Europe's first-ever creator media upfront in London on Sept. 17, while Spotter, Forbes, Walmart and the IAB have run similar creator-centric sales events.
- Go Fish's Lauren Lyster says creator inventory is 'neither finite nor seasonal' and effectively unlimited, so upfront-style deals will form around small rosters of top-one-percent creators.
- Culture Genesis released the CG Guide, 'the creator economy's upfront calendar,' covering 200-plus YouTube channels and talent including Kai Cenat, T-Pain, Hasan Minhaj and iShowSpeed.
Based on Digiday
Filed under creator-economy, upfronts, influencer-marketing, tv-advertising, iab
Tom Whitfield
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Staff writer covering consumer brands and retail at Marketing Herald.
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