Television Upfronts coverage by Daniella Serhan, Foxtel Media, Entertainment Sales and Partnerships Director
Part 1 Los Angeles: Where the streets are paved in content
US Television Upfronts time: It has been a long, long time since many of us in the television and streaming industry were able to board a plane to check out the newest and coolest broadcast content ready to hit our screens in the next 12 months. Yet last Friday, a few of us in the Foxtel Media team found ourselves on a direct flight to Los Angeles for our very first upfronts season in almost two years.
Content partner meetings dominated our time in LA before we set off for New York to see what Fox, NBCUniversal (NBCU), Disney, Warner Bros Discovery (WBDiscovery) and Paramount have in the pipeline at the 2022 upfronts.
At Foxtel Media, we are keeping an eye out for the most engaging content and innovative tech that our partners can buy against come 2023.
Foxtel Media’s Mark Frain, Nev Hasan and Daniella Serhan on their way to Los Angeles
We landed early on Friday morning to a crystal blue sky. Naturally, the most logical thing to do after a gruelling 14-hour flight is to stretch the legs with a hike. What started as a leisurely stroll in Runyon Canyon turned into 2.5 hours in the scorching heat; wandering down wrong paths and discovering formidable private estates with barbwire-covered gates.
Yet, to see La La Land from above the canyon was a refreshing experience.
In transiting through LA’s highways and high streets, one thing is abundantly clear: this is a city that has content running through its veins.
Every billboard is content-related. The sides of buildings have decals promoting the newest shows, and TV show posters line the walls of construction-site scaffolding with every player in the market represented from Fox, Showtime, HBO Max, Amazon to many more.
The billboards served as tantalising teasers for what lay ahead. While most shows are tightly under wraps until the moment their showreels air in New York, one can’t help but wonder what might be in store, and if all the early pilot buzz could be believed.
Amidst the excitement of the return to in-person events, flashy content reels and exotic cocktails, there was a noticeable zing in the air.
The 2022 upfronts are a vastly different beast to what it was pre-pandemic. As The New York Times pointed out in a recent article, the players and the game have changed.
CBS merged with Viacom to form Paramount Global, WarnerMedia and Discovery came together to form Warner Bros Discovery. YouTube debuted at the upfronts this week with rumours of Netflix joining next year.
In our own catch-ups with key executives at WBDiscovery and NBCU, the topic of how Madison Avenue will tackle new VOD entrants was consistently discussed. How will established platforms protect their share of TV revenue from the likes of Disney+, Paramount+, YouTube Premium and the other new kids on the block?
Most presentations will not centre just around primetime offerings. In line with consumer consumption patterns, most media companies will be talking about the advertising opportunities of their streaming services. This is, of course, a pattern we see in Australia and with our Foxtel Media partners as well. Brands are allocating more budget towards streaming than ever before, and accordingly, the industry has adjusted itself in accordance with those expectations.
Foxtel Media team on a New York sidewalk this week
Television Upfronts Part 2: New York, New York with NBCU
The first cab off the upfronts rank was NBCU on Monday with an event that was a knockout, to say the least. Kicking things off at the iconic Radio City Music Hall was Miley Cyrus with an incredible rendition of Wrecking Ball, Kelly Clarkson performed Queen of the Night before Andy Cohen took to the stage for a spectacularly choreographed dance number featuring a plethora of talent from Bravo.
Scenes from the NBCU Radio City television upfront
In between, the network’s best acting talent took to the stage to present, including the likes of Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni (of Law & Order: SVU fame). It was a marvellous way to be reintroduced to the grand upfronts tradition.
Our advertising hats were firmly on as NBCU made strong nods to ad sales within their presentation and highlighted how their new, unified platform makes market transactions much easier.
The most exciting future content (accompanied by the biggest applause) was from Bravo (NBCU’s lifestyle reality television channel) and Peacock (the network’s SVOD offering) sections of the presentation. I am one of many very much looking forward to the latest series to join the Housewives franchise, The Real Housewives of Dubai.
Two very different, but equally important, superstars: Miley Cyrus and ad sales rockstar Linda Yaccarino
NBCU’s concentration on data also stood out through the presentation. The network has 300 data touchpoints for their audiences that include foreign language understanding and theme park visits. It has helped them solidify the idea that an audience is not just audience any more thanks to data and tech. They are fandoms that inspire art, social penetration, and cultural connection.
Dual revenue streams for the business also took centre stage. In fact, the whole presentation was peppered with subtle digs at the Netflixes of the world, with rockstar VP of ad sales, Linda Yaccarino, going as far as labelling them “adolescent tech companies” who still need to build their ad capacity.
Beneath the jabs though, it’s hard to ignore the fight yet to come. In Australia, the whole industry is gearing up for the seismic shift that the likes of Netflix would bring if they turned on ads tomorrow. At Foxtel Media, we started preparing for this event years ago through deep investment in our AdTech. We relish the competition because it will undoubtedly lead to a much stronger Foxtel Group with a more sophisticated and watchable advertising experience for brands and viewers.
Overall NBCU’s upfront presentation delivered a very clear message – the current network is not the dregs of a messy merger, but a modified legacy business offering relevant, engaging, commerce–enabled ad innovation.
Stay tuned for our next instalment of the Foxtel Media US Upfront Diaries – new entries coming soon!
Photos: NBCUniversal and Daniella Serhan