It was curtains and confetti for the final upfront presentation in New York. Buyers and clients have endured the marathon upfront season in which digital, cable and broadcast networks presented their slate of programming for the 2013-14 season, each vying for a share of the $9 billion pie for broadcast (level year-on-year) and $10 billion for cable (up 6% year-on-year), with 80% of being negotiated and ‘dealt’ upfront within the coming weeks.
The final presentation was NBC Universal-owned USA Network (2012-13 most watched entertainment network and birthplace of WWE, Suits, Royal Pains and Burn Notice). Vying to stand out from the competition, USA chose a unique location in Manhattan’s Lower East Side known as Basketball City. It was the first presentation of the week that wasn’t in midtown and provided pre-drinks for the exhausted advertisers needing fuel (AKA alcohol) to get to the finish line. The upbeat and festive mood continued right through the presentation and all the way to the post-party where international pop group Passion Pit played and stars from Modern Family, Suits and other shows mingled.
NBC Universal ad sales boss Linda Yaccarino took to the stage once more for her third upfront of the week (NBC, Univision and now USA). “We made it,” was her opening line – referring to the marathon upfronts season – to which she received huge applause. Yaccarino opted for a more relaxed presentation (compared to NBC's on Monday) and was more than happy to give up hosting duties to the cast of the hit show Suits – but not before singing the praises of “the best sales team in the business”, NBC Unified. (NBC entered the the upfronts for the first time this year with a sales team unified across all NBC Universal platforms and networks.)
The entire cast of Suits (on Seven Network in Australia) took advertisers through the new slate of original dramas and comedies – and what a line-up it was. The juggernaut Modern Family, which originated on ABC and now is syndicated on the USA Network, will act as a launch platform for new stand-out dramas The Arrangement and Horizon. Horizon, a dark drama set in World War II, comes to us from the producers of The Walking Dead (cable’s biggest show of the 2012-13 season). The Arrangement stars a hot Colombian woman who enters into an arranged marriage with a US politician. No doubt both of these properties will be picked up by Foxtel given the pedigree of the writers and the producers.
Also suited to pay TV were their two stand-out comedies, Sirens (similar format to Scrubs but about paramedics instead of doctors) and Playing House, about a businesswoman who quits her job to help her best friend raise a child. The stars of the show introduced Playing House, and interestingly enough pitched relevant brand integration opportunities (a first for the week).
Out came another cast member of Suits to present the new slate of reality programs. The stand-out (in the loosest terms), from the creators of Big Brother, was Summer Camp, which is basically Big Brother but at a camp site. The cast looks like the usual bunch of Big Brother-style 'wannabes'.
At the heart of the USA strategy is its digital content and accessibility. As seen throughout the week, accessing content on-demand and live is essential for creators of great original programming, but at USA, it is only one component of its digital strategy.
USA prides itself on being a 'social TV pioneer’ and giving the fans content they can’t see on TV. It also uses the power of its fans to help build talkability of new shows. Take new summer drama Graceland – USA has provided viewers exclusive sneak peeks, the pilot and the first episode online to build fan engagement and create hype for the show.
It went on to play a video featuring a series of highly commended writers and producers heralding the use of ‘additional digital-only content’. The producers of Suits talked about the importance of creating ‘web series spin-offs’ and exclusive behind-the-scenes content. “The fans want more than the one hour they get a week on TV so we created a spin-off series for Suits and additional unseen footage,” they said. “Not only is this a win for our fans but also for the brands as it provides fantastic opportunities to integrate with the content.” They featured a selection of brands that have done just that, which was also a first for the week.
The presentation ended with the cast of Modern Family singing to help launch USA’s other new reality show The Choir, followed by the cast of Psych performing for their new Broadway musical. All in all a great show, which blew parent company NBC’s earlier upfront out of the water.
So concludes the 2013-14 upfront season, a week that saw more stars than the Oscars, more parties than Spring Break, oh, and some great programming and innovation.
A week that stops the nation (well the advertising nation). Each major upfront is streamed live into agencies in LA, Detroit, Chicago and New York (only a handful of senior executives from each agency actually get to attend the presentations). Midtown Manhattan is transformed into a sea of suits packing out landmark New York auditoriums (as well as restaurants and bars).
There were many points covered over the past week, but there were only a handful of topics and trends that stood out... starting with the most talked-about, the success of sports and live event programming for overnight ratings:
Live Sport and Event Programming
Remains the centrepiece of the networks' schedules, providing a reliable launchpad into new programming. “Nothing beats high-impact live TV and sports events to combat time-shift viewing,” says CBS president Leslie Moonves. These genres remain the constant for 'water-cooler’ discussions and social talkability. NBC focused on its powerhouses The Voice and the 2014 Winter Olympics to launch its Fall schedule, and Fox focused on its 2014 rights to the Super Bowl in New York, which will air across both the Fox Network and the soon-to-arrive Fox Sports 1 cable channel, tipped to become ESPN’s biggest rival. These platforms are being converted into sales for the networks, with NBC reporting it has already sold 80% of its Winter Olympics sponsorship and inventory, and is pacing to hit its $800 million revenue target. Given Ten’s recent expensive acquisition of the Winter Games, I’m sure Hamish McLennan would like to see some of this success. The US have mega-star snowboarding champion Shaun White on hand to help promote the games where Australia lacks the pulling power of a star athlete in the Winter Games. White was featured at the upfront and has driven much of NBC’s success. Australian viewers love to see Aussies succeed so without the marketable athletes or a mega-star like Shaun White, it seems this task may be more difficult for the team at Ten.
Live Streaming, Multi-Screening and Measurement
Accessing content 'anytime, anywhere' was headlined at almost every presentation. This week, ABC, TNT and TBS joined other cable channels as part of the self-proclaimed ‘pioneering’ group to offer their viewers live streaming services. We also saw Fox announce its partnership with Twitter and CW with Apple TV, but what does this all mean for our brands? NBC executives talked about their growing video-on-demand programming usage and why the 'fast-forwarding disabled' function is important to the networks to protect their advertising partners. With live streaming comes much-needed additional video inventory and with additional inventory across multiple screens comes a loud cry for measurement. ABC announced its trial run with Nielsen, measuring advertising in videos viewed with mobile and tablet apps. If successful, expect other networks (and Australia) to follow suit.
Big Names Stand Out
As buyers woke up this morning with a hangover from the USA post-party, they’re left wandering whether it’s the hangover or a dark cloud of information overload. Many buyers will recall one or two key programs from each presentation off the top of their head and these are said to be the programs with the biggest names that either star in or write the show. Often programs are sold in with the line, ‘From the creators of...’ Here’s a breakdown of the most talked-about programs for the week:
24 – starring Kiefer Sutherland – Fox
The Crazy Ones – starring Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar (and Kelly Clarkson in episode one) – CBS
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – written by Joss Whedon (creator of cult hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer) – ABC
Almost Human – created by J.J. Abrams (creator of Lost) – Fox
The Michael J. Fox Show – starring Michael J. Fox – NBC
Horizon – from the creators of The Walking Dead – USA Network
Stephen King’s Under the Dome – produced by Steven Spielberg – CBS
The Originals – from the creators of Vampire Diaries – CW
The Hostages – executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer
These programs are reportedly the most ‘sellable’ into international markets so expect to see most (if not all of the above) on our screens soon.
Where have the 18-39s gone?
With Fox reporting a decrease in this demo and the likes of AMC, CW and USA reporting significant growth, it seems the broadcast networks have a big job on their hands to win this audience back (hence the growing demand for accessible, 'anytime, anywhere' content). Digital distributor Netflix is bringing back the cult hit Arrested Development this summer, which is the most talked-about show for the ‘influencers’. Talking to numerous senior-level buyers this week, the word is it's no longer ‘cool’ among this demographic to watch broadcast TV. The line 'I don’t watch any broadcast TV' (referring to free-to-air) is often heard in Australia as well for this demo (and even if they are watching, it's not ‘cool’ to admit it). This is not only an issue in the US – Network Ten has seen a decline in its core younger demo audience and has shifted its strategy to target the older end of this demo with the likes of The Bachelor rather than trying to appeal to the younger end with likes of niche programming such as Being Lara Bingle.
The Limited Series
Traditional TV series have traditionally had a standard 22 episodes, ensuring writers have sufficient time to develop and build storylines and characters. The traditional series usually offers networks a better ROI as they commission more episodes and fewer programs. But given the recent success of Dexter, Breaking Bad and Mad Men where stories and characters can be executed within 12-15 episodes, it’s impossible for the major networks to ignore their success. They have followed suit and this week announced they have commissioned ‘limited series’ shows whereby viewers will get 12-15 episodes/weeks of back-to-back programming with no interruptions or repeats. Fox, CBS and ABC have all introduced their limited series programs, announcing the return of 24 (Fox), Betrayal (ABC) and Hostages (CBS) which all gained much talkability through the week.
All Bets Are On
Buyers are already betting on the ‘freshman’ (new) programming – what will fail and what will graduate through to another season. Out of all the new series to get announced at last year's upfronts, only two new shows cracked the top 30 (Fox’s The Following and NBC’s Revolution). Hence why we saw the major broadcast networks present ‘back-up' programming, with most of them tipped to make it on-air at some stage.
Product Integration
While Australian advertisers are mainly limited to integrating into the reality genre, there seem to be no boundaries in US TV, from dramas to comedies to hit shows. Even Vince Gilligan, executive producer and creator of AMC’s Breaking Bad, welcomes product integration (and not by drug dealers) but by “their friends at Chrysler”, who have provided vehicles for the series.
So after a huge week of presentations, I hand the baton over to the Australian programmers who will be in Los Angeles over the weekend for the ‘LA Screenings’, picking up many of the talked-about programs to bring home to us in the coming months (hopefully in line with the US schedules).
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