The 2025 Warner Bros. Discovery upfront began long before ad sales leaders Ryan Gould and Bobby Voltaggio took the stage.
The Friday before its upfront event, WBD shared details about its new adtech tools—the linear demographic tracker DemoDirect and the forthcoming, data-driven, full-portfolio ad platform NEO. In addition, the company announced WBD Storyverse, which opens the WBD content library of IP like Harry Potter or Friends to brands for potential partnerships, and the re-rebranding of Max to HBO Max, with Spider-Man memes of various brand iterations all teed up for the occasion.
The announcements set the stage for Gould and Voltaggio’s first upfront as ad presidents since replacing Jon Steinlauf in February, as the company doubled down on prestige and came to market as one streamlined WBD.
ADWEEK’s upfront postmortem interviews have already included NBCUniversal, Fox, Amazon, and Disney, and now WBD’s Gould and Voltaggio are opening up about how brands can utilize WBD Storyverse, the company’s adtech, the value of enduring titles and stories, and if they’ll do this all again next year.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Warner Bros. Discovery teased WBD Storyverse, DemoDirect, and NEO before the upfront, but can you discuss how they all help ad buyers connect with the company more efficiently?
