After being stuck in NY traffic, I finally arrived at the Beacon Theatre on Manhattan’s prestigious Upper West Side, location of the News Corp-owned Fox network upfront. Later I found out that the congestion was largely due to Netflix’s upfronts ‘ambush’ tactics to select locations surrounding the major networks' presentations to promote Arrested Development by giving away treats from a plotline, attracting thousands of people to sample the products. Netflix plans to execute similar stunts all through the week (so I’ll be ensuring extra travel time).
Toby Byrnes, president of sales for Fox and Fox Sports, opened the presentation by stating that the upfronts were about being ‘upfront’ with clients and opened with, “It wasn’t our best year.” (American Idol numbers significantly dropped, drama Touch fizzled early, Glee has lost steam, and The X Factor is not the juggernaut it is in Australia.) Given they have had a tough year, he executed the remainder of the pitch in an upbeat, vibrant and energetic manner.
Not surprising that they had a weaker year given their strategy focuses on the tougher-to-reach younger demographic (18-49) versus the other major networks. There were mentions of Netflix and Hulu and their plans to combat these digital powerhouses through their digital initiatives, leading with their original programming exclusively produced for digital (same production values and talent as TV). They also launched their promotional partnership with Twitter.
There was a really familiar feel about a 'tough year’ with this demo and lack of success of programming, very similar to that of the Ten upfront in December last year. But Ten’s strategy was to go back to ‘safe’ programming whereas Fox continues to take risks and innovate in the digital and social space.
Fox prides itself on being innovative and seems to be heading in the right direction with its digital strategies and positioning as a ‘social TV channel’. Aiming to prove their credibility in this space, they played a series of videos featuring a group of 'influencers' and 'futurists' (such as J.J. Abrams) all reiterating the point: “TV is stronger than ever, but it has to be supported by a strong digital and social strategy.”
Quotes such as, “Networks are still the water-cooler place”, “It’s a great time to be a fan of television”, “It’s the Renaissance of TV”, and the core message around “Watch what you want, when you want”. This is a theme spoken about from the all the networks but we are truly yet to see this, although there is expectation that ABC will launch a live TV app at today’s upfront.
As we saw from NBC earlier in the day, this year is all about stacking up on a longer list of dramas and comedies – the networks are under no illusion that the shows may not work so have commissioned a series of ‘backup’ programs. Budgets permitting, the Australian networks should also look at this rather than axing programs and playing re-runs of sitcoms.
Fox has commissioned five new comedies and four new dramas. Over the past few years we have seen a trend of declining ratings across American comedies which just don't seem to resonate with Aussie humour. Out of the five new comedies, one seems to stand out and potentially appeal to the Aussie audience – Brooklyn Nine-Nine staring Andy Samberg would sit well in a later timeslot.
The new dramas weren’t as strong as NBC’s drama slate, the two stand-outs were Gang Related set in LA and Rake (based on the original Australian series) starring Greg Kinnear, a self-destructive criminal lawyer defending a cannibal.
A stand-out announcement was the re-creation of 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland, being positioned as “special event TV”. The series will return with 12 episodes so expect Seven to re-look at this as they held the original rights to the program when it last played in 2010.
Kevin Bacon then announced that The Following would be returning for another 15 episodes – that should be good news for Nine given the show's steady numbers with the network.
Sport again played a pivotal role in launching new dramas and comedies. Fox Sports intends to use the powerhouse of the Super Bowl (to be played in NYC in February) to launch its second-half slate, as well as its other flagship sporting pillars of the UFC, Daytona and the UEFA Championship.
Non-scripted (AKA reality TV) was once again left until the final part of the presentation, where the stage became crowded with egos. Simon Cowell (The X Factor) opened with a stab at American Idol (given Randy Jackson left the show just four days ago), Gordon Ramsay stole the microphone to plug the next series of MasterChef, Ryan Seacrest then took over to get the buyers excited about the American Idol and lastly a screechy-voiced Mary Murphy closed with the plea for buyers to get excited about the next series of So You Think You Can Dance.
All eyes will be on who replaces Randy Jackson and the new fresh format for the next season of American Idol – maybe Network Ten can convince Randy to move to sunny Sydney if they choose to renew the Australian Idol franchise.
So You Think You Can Dance performs consistently well for Fox (not huge, but well enough), so it’s a pity Ten’s Everybody Dance Now wrote off the dance genre for a while – otherwise this too may have been a good option for Ten since it did decent numbers for them back in 2008/09.
After the presentation, Rupert Murdoch walked out looking relaxed. All the talent turned up to the post-event where buyers and clients got the opportunity to pose for photos with the casts of all the shows, allowing buyers and clients to engage and interact with the Fox brand. The night finished with Kevin Bacon taking the stage to perform original songs with his band to the big crowd in the middle of Central Park.
Australian networks should take note of the way the clients got to experience the network's brand after the presentation – we may not have the scale of the talent that the US does, but there are ways of creating an experience that will stand out from the competition. The Australian network upfronts aren’t until October, so they have plenty of time to plan and prepare.
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