The Upfront Show Must Go On: Media Companies Fine-Tune Their Pitches While Navigating Through WGA Strike, Murky Economic Climate And Streaming Shift

deadline.com:

Even without a once-in-a-generation strike or a Twitter bombshell, next week would already pose a challenge to media companies making their annual upfront pitches to ad buyers in New York.

An adverse economic climate and a number of existential questions are confronting those in the ad trenches. With live, linear tune-in continuing to decline, what is the meaning of a prime-time schedule anymore?

In a cord-cutting world, how will the profit models of streaming play out? How will advertisers feel the same rush they used to get from putting their chips on the hottest new sitcom or procedural drama and seeing those bets pay off? “Going into this upfront, there’s a lot of anxiety and excitement — a mix of both,” said Rita Ferro, president of ad sales and partnerships at Disney. “Buyers still love this time of year.

They get to see the best of what’s coming from companies, and companies are excited to present that.” Mark Marshall, elevated Friday to interim chairman of ad sales and partnerships at NBCUniversal after Linda Yaccarino’s stunning exit and expected move to become CEO of Twitter, expressed optimism despite it all during an interview with Deadline this week. “We feel dramatically better about things than we were a few months ago,” he said prior to the news about Yaccarino on Thursday added another stunning layer of drama to next week’s ritual. “Supply chain issues have improved, inflation is slowing down.