The latest cycle of TV advertising’s upfront deal-making is likely to put even more pressure on an already tight linear TV and streaming ad market. TV networks managed their inventory to maximize the amount of money they received in the upfront as well as the money they stand to reap outside of the annual commitments. “Definitely there is a law of reserving some of our inventory to make sure that we’ve got a scatter marketplace to sell into,” said one TV network executive. Read more below.

• TV networks managed their inventory to maximize the amount of money they received — and stand to reap outside of the annual commitments.
• As the TV upfront marketplace wraps up in favor of sellers, buyers look to bring balance in scatter between Q4 2021 and Q3 2022. More in this week’s Digiday+ Media Buying Briefing.
• Art19's ad monetization platform should allow Amazon to expand the reach and breadth of inventory it offers customers through its DSP.
• Employers who fail to be flexible about flex work may well find themselves on the wrong side of history — and, in the more immediate future, on the losing side of employee retention.
• Google has committed to welcoming the U.K.'s antitrust agency into a cookieless web ad standards process many say the firm has dominated in development, but open government advocates are skeptical.
• For a few days last week, fans got to explore the London-based O2 Arena ahead of a virtual gig by the Island Records-signed pop band easy life.
• Summer Fridays are by no means a standard across media companies, but some publishers are offering employees more PTO and flexible work hours.