“Expanding our partnership with Disney Advertising underscores a shared vision to maximize the value of relevant advertising, especially at a moment when the industry needs it the most,” Will Doherty, vp, inventory development, The Trade Desk, said in a statement. “We set up the building blocks when we forged our collaboration to create a new identity fabric for the open internet through Unified ID 2.0 interoperability with Disney’s Audience Graph.”

Bottom line

The announcement showcases the importance of addressable and streaming ahead of this year’s upfront.

Addressable across sports and entertainment helped drive demand for Disney’s upfront inventory in 2023, and the DRAX expansion further bolsters that offering.

Additionally, more than 40% of the total 2023 and 2024 upfront dollars committed to Disney last year went toward streaming and digital, with Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu leading the way.