"In a challenge to television … Google and its YouTube video site, Yahoo, AOL, online video venture Hulu and Microsoft, will each take a day to present advertisers with marketing opportunities and future video programming," reports The Hollywood Reporter, citing a story in the Wall Street Journal [Note: the WSJ is behind a firewall and may charge you to read its article.]

The THR story says, "Ahead of broadcast TV networks’ traditional upfront advertising presentations here in May that show off their fall season schedule, online media giants will in April hold a similar two-week event dubbed Digital Content New Fronts to also tout their content lineup and advertising opportunities"

The THR article adds, "’We need to show there is a new game in town,’ said Colin Kinsella, CEO of the North America operations of ad agency Digitas, which came up with the idea for the event. Television advertising spending amounted to $60.7 billion last year, according to research firm eMarketer. Online video ad spending in the U.S. reached only $2.02 billion, but that was up 55 percent from 2010, the Journal highlighted."