3 weeks ago
1
Media companies planning their annual upfront showcases often worry whether the advertisers and media buyers they invited were treated well. Were they entertained? Were they wined and dined? Now, there’s a new concern: Will they have time to get to the next event?
In the past, this wasn’t such a problem. Each day of Upfront Week contained about two showcases, mostly in Midtown Manhattan locations and close environs, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon. This year, the entire week is being squeezed into three days — one less than the pre-pandemic usual — but with more events than ever, even with CBS bowing out of an Upfronts Week presentation for the second year in a row.
Amazon made its upfronts debut last year in a Tuesday-morning slot that had been occupied for years by Disney’s ESPN, until ESPN’s upfront pitch was folded into the omnibus Disney-verse presentation that has long been held on Tuesday afternoon. This year, Amazon moved their Prime Video event to Monday evening, a flex that bumped right up against Fox’s long-held Monday evening slot on a day that began, as ever, with NBCUniversal’s presentation at Radio City Music Hall. That’s a long day of dealing with e-tickets and finger food and scatter market pricing trend chit-chat for media biz pros.
Thanks to Amazon’s maneuver, NBCUniversal moved an event built around Telemundo typically held on Monday evenings to Tuesday, where it is likely to bump up against an after-party usually put on by Disney. Disney, meanwhile, is holding a press event Tuesday morning to talk about ESPN that executives at Spanish-language giant TelevisaUnivision fear will siphon away journalists who might typically attend an upfront showcase it has planned in a similar time slot.
It’s not Fox’s job to worry about whether its clients can make the Amazon event by start time. But its event this year seemed tighter than usual, with fewer of the athletes that regularly participate going off on verbal tangents or taking up time for humorous asides. Nor did Amazon seem to hold things up to make sure everyone was in the house. After dispatching DJ Steve Aoki to entertain the pre-show audience with some clever mixing, Amazon started its showcase Monday night right at the time specified.
Still, the advertising industry executives and media buyers who largely fill the seats at upfront presentations want want face time with sales executives, producers and talent. That’s one of the reasons why they come to New York in person rather than live-streaming the upfronts from offices across the country. They expect to be able to schmooze — a perk of the job. With Upfront Week’s tighter schedule, attendees have no shortage of hors d’oeuvres and swag, but a deficit, potentially, of meaningful face time.
(Pictured: Jamie Foxx got the crowd warmed up at Fox’s upfront presentation on May 12)
English (US) ·