Over the last decade, streaming video platforms have gradually siphoned away viewers from traditional TV networks. But next month, they will be confronting the legacy outlets on their own turf — by going directly for their advertising dollars.

For the first time, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix will both be part of what has long been known as "TV Week," also called the "upfronts." It's the official start of the ad-selling season where advertisers commit their spending for the fall TV season that launches in September.

Netflix, for example, will hold a presentation and an all-day interactive event called "The Netflix Experience" at Manhattan's Chelsea Piers, where advertisers will get sneak peeks at new seasons of its top shows, including "Bridgerton," "That '90s Show," and "Squid Game," along with unscripted properties such as a roast of retired NFL superstar Tom Brady.

The week, which starts annually on the second Monday in May, is a rite of spring for advertisers and media buyers who travel around New York for lavish programming presentations, followed by parties where booze flows freely and large quantities of jumbo shrimp are consumed.

Following the show-and-tell, executives decide where to place their advance orders for commercial time, which guarantees the number of viewers reached and typically provides better pricing than if they waited to buy closer to airtime. Media Dynamics, a firm that tracks the data, put the total for the 2023-24 season at $27 billion, which includes $8.3 billion for streaming services.

As ratings for traditional TV continue to erode, media buyers say they welcome the opportunity to reach viewers through high quality programs on the massive streaming platforms. Outside live sports, younger viewers have largely abandoned traditional TV for streaming, and more advertising dollars are following them. Amazon and Netflix are smelling blood and are looking to commercials as a source of revenue growth for their streaming operations.

Ted Harbert, a veteran network executive who participated in numerous upfronts over his career, sees Amazon and Netflix's full scale push into the ad market as a symbolic statement of their intentions.

"It's not 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em,'" Harbert said. "It's more like, 'We can take these guys. We've got a product that's more attractive than theirs.'"

The upfronts have evolved over the last decade. After long serving as the domain of broadcast networks ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, they now prominently feature the streaming operations of their parent companies. CBS, which held presentations at Carnegie Hall, now has its sales executives meet privately with ad executives. Google's YouTube joined the festivities several years ago with expensive star-studded presentations.

But some upfront traditions remain frozen in time. NBC parent Comcast, Fox Corp., ABC owner Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. Discovery have been locked into the same upfront schedule for years. Stars still show up onstage at the events and will pose for photos with ad buyers at parties.

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