TikTok Hits Pause On Politics To Deliver Its Second-Ever NewFronts Message To Advertisers

TikTok is capping off this week of NewFronts in New York with an even larger extravaganza than its first-ever edition in 2023.

The show is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. ET, and this post will be updated as things unfold.

While it is highly unlikely to be referenced during the event, TikTok has been under a microscope, not only for the fierce loyalty of its 170 million users and growing, but for its ties to China. The U.S. Senate last month passed a bill by a wide margin ordering the ByteDance subsidiary to be sold to a U.S.-based owner or risk being shut down. The company says the security concerns fueling the legislation are ill-founded and has vowed to sue if President Joe Biden signs the bill into law, as many regulators are urging him to do.

The company’s presentation to advertisers is covering a range of ground. Announcements are slated to include Paramount Global and the NHL joining the roster of official partners; improvements to the Pulse offerings for advertisers; and measurement deals with Nielsen and iSpot.

The idea behind the Pulse enhancements is to give ad buyers more of a say in the context in which their messages appear. The Pulse Premiere program introduced last year is being expanded. New publishers are coming aboard and there are now new ways to buy against specific tentpole moments and content, plus new customizable Pulse lineups to help brands control where their ads show up.

Paramount is one of the new content providers joining Premiere, as is the NHL. The existing roster of partners includes BuzzFeed, Conde Nast, Dotdash Meredith, Hearst, Vox, MLB, MLS, NBCU, NFL, WWE, and UFC.

“TikTok has allowed the NHL to engage with our passionate fans in new and unexpected ways,” said Kyle McMann, NHL SVP, Global Business Development, said in a press release. “By deepening our partnership with Pulse Premiere, we’re able to expand our monetization offerings allowing brands who want to engage with our incredible fan base to appear in their feed adjacent to the unique and engaging content the League and our member Clubs create.”

TikTok said its reach takes sponsored messages beyond the scope of TV. The company cited research showing that 58% of all impressions on its platform reached a unique audience that had not been exposed to the TV portion of a campaign. The measurement deals with Nielsen and iSpot, accordingly, will bulk up cross-media reach metrics.