• Advertising Age, Friday, January 9, 2009 9:30 AM

The CW network will move its upfront presentation to the morning of Thursday May 21, backing away from a 2008 experiment. Last year entertainment chief Dawn Ostroff tried to talk about the outlet's fall lineup in a distracting, party-like atmosphere. This year's presentation will be more traditional.

The CW's move comes after Fox boldly said last year it would make its presentation on May 18, a move that could impinge on NBC, which has made the first upfront presentation for at least a decade.

Once frothy confabs featuring celebrities and lavish after-parties, the network upfronts have been toned down in the past 18 months. Because the 2009 upfront week comes close to Memorial Day, the networks are also trying to figure out how to avoid crimping media buyers' and marketing executives' three-day weekends.

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