ViacomCBS Confirms Return To Carnegie Hall With In-Person Upfront In May

deadline.com:

The CBS upfront, now under the umbrella of ViacomCBS, will return to its longtime home at New York’s Carnegie Hall on May 18.The news follows commitments from rivals Fox and NBCUniversal in recent days, both of which have slated multiple in-person upfront events.

Disney has indicated it is taking a fresh look at the approach to its upfront, which has long been held at Lincoln Center.The last year for the annual upfront extravaganza, which typically stretches for several weeks in the spring when cable and streaming are combined with broadcast TV, was 2019.

Covid neutralized the live upfronts in 2020 and last year, forcing everything online. As media companies look to shore up advertising in a landscape upended by streaming, the idea of pressing the flesh in person has proven appealing.Jo Ann Ross, president and chief advertising revenue officer of domestic ad sales for ViacomCBS, has been a longtime fixture at the upfront event.

One year, she wore a dress bearing the illuminated digital message “your ad here” in a direct acknowledgement of her mission.“We’re thrilled to return to the iconic stage at Carnegie Hall this year and spotlight the power of ViacomCBS in what will surely be a show-stopping event,” Ross said in a statement provided to Deadline. “We look forward to delivering an entertaining and informative presentation that addresses the dynamic needs of our clients, which is absolutely critical as the marketplace continues to transform at a rapid pace.”No details about the event were provided, but since CBS and Viacom merged in December 2019, the parts of the company have joined together in a unified pitch to advertisers.