An Interview With Peter Naylor

Q: Peter, for the five people out there who haven’t come across you in the past, who are you?

I've been in media sales my entire career, most recently as global sales leader at Netflix. Before that I led sales at Snap, Hulu and NBCU. Currently I’m just starting up as a senior advisor to McKinsey & Company, moving from being a player to a coach. I'm also working with private companies on a board level.

Q: You were selling CTV before most people knew how to spell C-T-V. Or put differently, you’ve had quite a head start on almost everyone else. Is there anything you learned about CTV advertising that most media owners and marketers haven’t figured out yet but probably will before long?

Ha! I don’t claim to have a monopoly on CTV knowledge, but one thing’s for sure—CTV is just better TV for both consumers and marketers. Hulu even ran a campaign making the point that once you experience CTV (or in their case, Hulu), everything else feels second-best. It’s like flying first class and then getting stuck in coach—no contest. CTV delivers a far superior experience to linear TV. Viewers get the freedom to binge their favorite shows on their own schedule, while marketers get the best of both worlds: TV’s reach and impact combined with digital’s precision and measurement. Better in every way. Right now, the big focus is on bringing more SMB advertisers into CTV and delivering even more granular measurement for TV marketers. The evolution continues!

Q: How do you think the processes around television buying and selling evolve over the next few years? Does it all go programmatic? Do relationships dominate? Both?

I believe a hybrid approach to buying and selling will be around for the foreseeable future. Publishers with large, valuable audiences will want a direct sales team for high-end sponsorships and wholesale deals, while programmatic channels will help maximize yield across all inventory. The sharp rise of automation in advertising has already happened, and it will continue to evolve. However, that doesn’t eliminate the need for creative, strategic executives on both the buy and sell sides of the equation to be a part of the process.

Q: Do you think that upfronts or advanced commitments continue to serve a purpose for sellers and buyers?

The upfront is dead. Long live the upfront! Look, while technology and shifting consumer behaviors have transformed many aspects of upfront deals, some core principles remain unchanged. For marketers who know exactly where they want to be (think sports, annual sponsorships or critical selling seasons), making an upfront commitment to secure inventory still makes sense. Likewise, for publishers looking to forecast their business with certainty, establishing long-term partnerships to build a solid revenue foundation remains a smart strategy. The upfront market will continue to exist as surely as it will continue to evolve.

Q: Are there other parts of the process that you think are poised to change?

Everyone will need to get really good at AI and then once everyone's really good at AI, creativity will once again be a differentiator. And then there'll be some new technology that will turn everyone's head. Quantum computing? I'm not sure! But everyone will have to be really good at that new thing, too, and once the playing field is leveled, the differentiator will always be creativity in all aspects of the business.

Q: Do you think most marketers want to integrate YouTube and social video with their TV buys as one thing? Or do they prefer it as something separate? Why or why not?

Different audiences consume different types of video content for different reasons, often based on generational preferences. Younger audiences, for example, are increasingly hard to find on traditional TV. Each platform's strengths will be leveraged accordingly, but the key challenge remains achieving a unified view across all formats. The buy side of the business wants a holistic view across all platforms, so yes they are interested in integrating short-form and vertical video with their long-form TV and CTV buys. However, that’s easier said than done.

Q: If TV as I’ve defined it historically is poised to decline, do you think that owners of traditional TV networks have a pathway to growth? For example, do you think they can create more meaningful audience extension opportunities? Or partner more aggressively with retailers or social media platforms?

Traditional media companies have many compelling opportunities to leverage their legacy businesses in a rapidly changing world of consumer preferences. To succeed, they need courage, conviction, and - most importantly - creativity at the highest levels. All of these companies have streaming divisions that play a key role in their future. Those with sports rights are strategizing how to maximize their value. Everyone is looking to capitalize on the growth of vertical video platforms. And consider what’s possible outside of rectangular shaped ads! There are countless opportunities - commerce, digital product placement, live events, and more. The list goes on.

Q: What do you think about network owners selling off their cable networks in some instances? Can you see a strategic purpose or is it just financial engineering? Or is it financial engineering in order to buy time and find a strategy, or something else?

A cynic might argue that there’s little room for reinvention for these networks—that it’s more about optimizing revenue and value through the financial lens that investors use to assess these companies. But I tend to lean toward the optimist’s perspective. David Zaslav at Warner Bros. Discovery noted that with this new setup, he could play both offense and defense. I think that holds water. And let’s not forget when Viacom split CBS into a separate company, believing the cable assets had more potential and were undervalued. In the end, CBS proved to have the stronger hand at the time. Similarly, I wouldn’t underestimate Mark Lazarus and his team in shaping the future of SpinCo. These are creative leaders who wake up every day thinking about the opportunities ahead and exploring new ways to thrive.

Q: Outside of the media industry, you’re involved with the National Kidney Foundation. What led you to them?

I was humbled to receive the Chuck Fruit Award of Media Excellence honor from the National Kidney Foundation in 2022. NKF’s mission is to save lives. I joined NKF’s Board of Advisors 3 years ago and am still astounded by the fact 1 in 3 people are at risk for kidney disease and that 14 people die each day waiting for a life saving transplant.

Q: There’s a big event coming up March 27 in New York. What should our readers know about it? And how can they participate?

Ah! Our media friend and colleague Donna Speciale, President, Advertising Sales & Marketing TelevisaUnivision, Inc., has been chosen to receive the Chuck Fruit Award of Media Excellence this year at their annual Cocktails & Honors Reception on March 27th in NYC. Susan Schiekofer, Chief Digital Investment Officer at Group M, will be introducing Donna. We have over 25 media sponsors. Please join us! Tickets and sponsor information are here: https://support.kidney.org/event/2025-cocktail-and-honors-reception/e612702