TV upfront week may be two months away, but conversations are already happening behind the scenes, and buyers expect things to play out a bit differently this year.

While some media buyers referred to last year as “a reset year in connected TV,” others expect this upfront season to be a transitional one, especially with the fragmentation and consolidation that’s happened over the past year.

ADWEEK spoke with several buyers ahead of this year’s upfront week, and here are three things they expect in 2025:

Talks are moving way beyond price

In typical discussions in years past, price was always at the forefront of the conversation. However, this time around, nothing is business as usual.

“It’s not just about price. It’s about all of these other things that we care about and making sure that our clients get all the flexibility needs they want, the data they want, the analytics, the research, and reporting on the back end,” one media buyer told ADWEEK, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

For an example of how media buying is changing, the buyer referred to Comcast’s Universal Ads platform, which brings inventory from various publishers to one place. With similar and perhaps more robust all-in-one services, the buyer suggested that companies with conflicting media offerings and interests could come together on a platform that accesses premium inventory from major publishers.

“I see a lot more openness and willingness to change the dynamic of how things have been done, and I see glimmers of hope in that,” the buyer said.

Budget shifts are happening, but not for everyone

Though companies like Disney, Fox, NBCUniversal, Netflix, and Warner Bros. Discovery are the traditional players in the upfront, tech and streaming companies are always looking to make a bigger play for TV dollars.

For instance, YouTube recently announced several updates to pique ad buyer interest, including the fact that viewing on TV has passed mobile and that the platform has been the top streamer in the U.S. for two years.