The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released its event schedule for the first half of 2022. The slate includes the IAB Podcast Upfront and the IAB NewFronts. The organization has added a new showcase: the IAB PlayFronts, to highlight advertising and partnership opportunities in the gaming industry.
The Podcast Upfront will be a virtual event, as it has been in 2020 and 2021, playing on May 10-12 next year.
The IAB Podcast Upfront was founded in September 2016, and ran as an annual fall event through 2020. This year the Podcast Upfront was moved to the spring to be more closely aligned on the calendar with the NewFronts — the idea there is that buyers are naturally interested in both. Then, the IAB also produced a Podcast Upfront in its traditional fall timing. There is no announcement yet about whether that twice-a-year format will be continued.
These are invitation-only B2B events attended by advertisers and agency buyers. That audience watches a program featuring sell-side presenters such as podcast companies (Podcast Upfront) and the more broadly programmed NewFronts. We expect the new PlayFronts program to run along the same line. Look for industry-leading RAIN coverage in the coming year.