The television industry has changed dramatically over the last decade, but one tradition that won’t die is the annual gathering of ad-buying execs in Manhattan to hear the pitches of networks and streamers looking to sell their commercial time.

This past week’s lavish presentations, known as the upfronts, included the usual array of big-name actors (Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jennifer Lopez), NFL legends (Tom Brady and Mike Tomlin) and “Real Housewives,” past and present.

The selling buzzwords are far different from the days when the presentations were a vehicle for networks to boast about their ratings and present new program line-ups. The 2026 upfronts talked a lot about “connections” and “community” as the personalized nature of TV viewing brought on by streaming video-on-demand has been fully integrated into the buying and selling of commercials.

“Three of us could be watching the same show, maybe at a different time, maybe at the same time, but receive very different advertising based on what ad technologies, know about us as an audience segment,” said Josh Mattison, executive vice president of digital revenue pricing, planning and operations for Walt Disney Co. “The old model would be, hey, did 10 million people watch this ad? 
I think the new model is, which 10 million people watch this ad.”

Here’s a sampling of what ad executives were seeing and hearing this week:

Using new ad tools that target viewers

Every company presentation touted advancements in the ability to target consumers now that advertising has become the main source of revenue growth in the streaming business. They also played up new services — such as NBC’s Performance Insights Hub — providing advertisers with up to date information on the effectiveness of their advertising so they can adjust accordingly.

Streamers can take the consumer research collected by advertisers and align them with the viewing habits of their subscribers. The data are analyzed in a secure room to protect consumer privacy.

Netflix doesn’t ask subscribers for personal information in the sign-up process, as it can discourage people from buying the service. But the company does use the viewer habits on the platform to help advertisers reach the customers they seek.

“We are seeing where there is overlap and use that to help our advertisers target better,” Amy Reinhard, president of advertising for Netflix, told The Times. “It’s all based on viewer preferences.”

Every company is turning to AI to respond to the needs of advertisers. NBC now offers them the chance to insert commercials that relate to the action seen on the screen during live sports events.

Creators are going mainstream

YouTube’s annual upfront gatherings used to have the feel of an alternative show business universe, with personalities who built their rabid followings on the streaming platform far away from the audiences for traditional TV.

Now creators such as the sports stunt group Dude Perfect have their own studios. Beast Industries, the corporate home of MrBeast, held its own invitation-only breakfast for marketing executives at a high-end New York venue . YouTube stars, such as Jesser, are landing shows on other platforms.

At YouTube’s presentation at Lincoln Center, longtime favorites such as “Call Her Daddy” podcast mogul Alex Cooper and “SubwayTakes” host Kareem Rhama appeared on stage to announce new projects on the platform, looking more like established show producers rather than social media renegades.

Ten years ago, YouTube advertisers had to worry about their spots running next to Islamic State videos. Now it’s become common for marketers to embrace YouTube stars and fully integrate products and messages into their programs.

“When creators talk about your products on YouTube, viewers are 13 times more likely to search for your brands and five times more likely to buy,” said Paul Downey, president of Americas & Global Partners for YouTube.

Mary Ellen Coe, chief business officer for YouTube, told The Times that advertisers can determine if a creator is right for their brand by looking at audience numbers, subscriber data and comments from their communities of fans. But many have their own personal focus groups at home that introduce the hottest YouTube personalities.

“Most of these advertisers have children and teenagers and they go nuts for them,” Coe said.

YouTube is the most watched TV platform according to Nielsen, accounting for nearly 13% of all TV viewing. But that share is much higher among younger consumers.

“My kids don’t watch TV — they watch YouTube,” said Anthony Pedalino, vice president and head of media investment at the ad buying firm Giant Spoon. “So I think this is a bit of future proofing.”

Other companies are seeking creators for their platform.

Amazon Prime Video introduced an alternative feed of some of its NBA games on its streaming platform Twitch, which will turn them into a “CreatorCast.” The streamers who are regulars on the site call the action live in an effort to bring in younger fans. The format will be used in WNBA games in the league’s new season.

Fox touted its creator initiative that develops programs for Tubi, the company’s fast-growing ad-supported streaming platform that now has 100 million active users. The company also has a partnership with TikTok to support creators who want to turn their short-form clips into full-length programs.

There’s always room for comfort food

Amid all the innovations in ad buying and audience measurement presented during the week, many of the programs and personalities offered up by the major networks and streamers were extremely familiar.

“They may be resigned to the fact that people are going to go to emerging platforms for more niche and esoteric programs,” Pedalino said.

Oprah Winfrey made an entrance on the Beacon Theatre stage to promote the move of her podcasts to Amazon Prime Video.

Disney rolled out the cast of “Scrubs” to announce another 10-episode order of the early 2000s sitcom for Hulu. The series had a successful reboot as Gen Z viewers continue to devour vintage programs. Amazon Prime announced “The Greatest,” a Michael B. Jordan-produced mini-series on legendary heavyweight fighter Muhammad Ali, not exactly uncharted territory.

Fox introduced a reboot of “Baywatch,” which was canceled after a single season on NBC in 1990, but went on to become a worldwide hit in syndication over the decade that followed. The slow-motion shots of toned lifeguard bodies running into Venice beach waters are coming back without a hint of irony.

Netflix brought out the set of “Pop Culture Jeopardy” at its presentation at Sunset Pier 94 Studios, NBC previewed comedies with proven prime time stars and touted its 100th anniversary which will be celebrated with an old-fashioned variety special later this year.

It’s been a very long time since Suriya scored a unanimous theatrical hit. Soorarai Pottru and Jai Bhim were good films and received very good appreciation, but both skipped theatrical release and were released directly on Prime Video. Interestingly, the director, R. J. Balaji’s directorial debut, Mookuthi Amman, was also released directly on OTT. At a time when both of them need a theatrical hit, the hero and the director duo, teamed up for, Karuppu (Veerabhadrudu in Telugu ) a fantasy action drama film. The addition of Trisha, as female lead and Sai Abhyankkar, as music director, helped the film to generate good hype among fans and audience. After resolving the last-minute financial hurdles, the makers released the film today (i.e. a day later than the scheduled date). Did Suriya finally score a hit at the box office? Did R. J. Balaji utilise the opportunity to direct a star hero and deliver an engaging film? Did Sai Abhyankkar come up with chartbuster music yet again after, Dude? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

Baby Kannan(R. J. Balaji), a cunning and corrupt lawyer, runs a mafia and controls the Metropolitan Magistrate court in Chennai. He and his team intentionally extend the court hearings, to get fees from clients for a long time. They even turn judgments in their favour by bribing the Magistrate. What happens when a father(Indrans) and his daughter(Anagha Maaya Ravi), travel to Chennai from Kerala, with a bag full of gold? Why did the father carry a lot of gold in his bag? How did the deity(Suriya), Karuppuswamy, help the father and daughter, when they lost their gold? What challenges did the deity face while dealing with corrupt public officials? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

It’s good to see Suriya in an out-and-out commercial film after a long time. It looked like he thoroughly enjoyed playing the role of Karuppuswamy in the film. His screen presence and performance were top-notch as always. Trisha Krishnan in the role of Preethi, an honest and young lawyer did a good job with her performance. And yes, the age is catching up with her and it was very evident on screen.

Indrans and Anagha Maaya Ravi, in the roles of a helpless father and daughter, did an excellent job with their performance throughout the first half. The scenes on them in the first half are one of the major positives of the film. R. J. Balaji in the role of a corrupt lawyer did a good job with his performance but it would have been better if they had gone for an actor who has enough experience in doing antagonist roles. Interestingly, he had more slow-motion shots in the film than the hero, Suriya.

Natty Subramaniam in the role of Magistrate did well too. Especially, his performance was very good during his sequence in the film. The film had many notable actors and bearing one or two, most of them delivered good performances.

Technicalities:

Sai Abhyankkar’s work as a music director is a huge letdown. He failed to come out with good songs and apart from a couple of BGMs, his background score for the film was very loud, especially in the second half. G. K. Vishnu’s cinematography is good as always. Particularly during the fantasy episodes, the colour palettes and the frames he used, deserve appreciation. R. Kalaivanan’s editing was very tight and engaging in the first half but he should have done a better job in the second half. Production values by, Dream Warrior Pictures, were adequate. Let’s discuss the writer and director, R. J. Balaji’s work in detail in the analysis section.

Positives:

1.⁠ ⁠First Half
2.⁠ ⁠Suriya’s Screen Presence

Negatives:

1.⁠ ⁠Second Half
2.⁠ ⁠Loud Background Score
3.⁠ ⁠Over The Top Action Sequences

Analysis:

The directors, Shankar Shanmugam and Atlee in Tamil and Koratala Siva in Telugu, are a few of the directors in India, who are known for making socially relevant commercial entertainers, engagingly and entertainingly. These three directors along with a few other directors, made many commercially viable social drama films with different backdrops in the past. Just like the aforementioned dire tie, the director, R. J. Balaji, chose a socially relevant storyline and blended it well with socio-fantasy, with ‘God Vs Corrupt Public Official’, as a conflict point. Sounds existing, isn’t it? It indeed is exciting and up until the end of the first half, everything seemed to be working very well.

The emotional drama in the first half is the major highlight of the film. Unfortunately, after finishing the first half on a very good note, the director and his writing team, lost the track completely in the name of fan service and commercial mass moments. Right from the word go in the second half, everything appeared too loud and over the top.

It takes a good thirty to forty minutes for the protagonist to appear on screen but we as the audience never miss the protagonist during this period because of the gripping emotional drama. Right from the very first sequence, the director pulls us into getting connected with the father and daughter duo, their struggle and helplessness.

The director deserves appreciation for making the audience feel the pain of the father and daughter and we eagerly wait for someone to come and help them. And, when the protagonist, finally enters the screen and takes charge of the proceedings to help the father and daughter, every sequence was appreciated with loud cheers by the audience. The emotional drama, the initial conversation between God & the corrupt lawyer, the subsequent courtroom drama and the pre-interval sequence, made the first half end on a good note and raised the expectations further in the second half.

Unfortunately, for some reason, the director decided to take a different route in the second half and relied completely on mass commercial moments. It is where the film completely lost track. After letting God win, although on a sad note, at the end of the first half, the director seemed to have run out of ideas to come up with gripping drama further. Is it really possible for a corrupt human being to win against a powerful God? No way, right? The antagonist character appeared so small and insignificant in front of a ferocious God. It appeared like the director too is aware of it and included the dialogue – ‘Is it really required to use the powers of so many Gods’, just to stop a small-time corrupt lawyer’. That’s exactly what we as the audience feel while watching the second half. Since there’s no story or ideas to drive the film further, the director filled the second half of the film with commercial high moments one after the other. But, most of them appeared over the top, including the forced appearance of Suriya in his crowd favourite, Durai Singham getup. Another drawback of the film is that R. J. Balaji, took the role he played in the film too seriously and ended up giving a lot of screen space to his character with unnecessary slow-motion shots, punch dialogues, etc. It would have been better had he concentrated on writing, particularly in the second half.

Overall, interesting backdrop, socially relevant storyline and engaging emotional drama, in the first half worked out well but the film lost its track in the second half with a not-so-engaging screenplay and over the top action sequences. However, Karuppu, is a much better film among Suriya’s theatrical releases in the recent past. You may give it a try watching but keep your expectations low, particularly in the second half.

Bottomline – ‘God’s Magic’ Worked Partially

Rating – 2.5/5

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