In search of a word Thursday morning that would describe the TV
biz’s annual upfront week, I came up with this, which isn’t technically a real word: “Lotsa.”
Lotsa hoo-hah, lotsa
noise, lotsa stars trotted out on stage, lotsa claims about the vitality of commercial-supported television and the supposed robustness of its audiences, lotsa young ad agency employees saving seats
for their superiors like fraternity pledges before a football game.
Lotsa BS too, truth be told -- but we all know that going in. In spite of that, I tend to
give the TV business a lot of credit for salesmanship at these things. No one expects the network pitchmen and pitchwomen to get up on these big stages and bemoan the state of traditional
television.
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Instead, these people are the ultimate practitioners of that old saw about making lemonade when someone gives you lemons. For example, as a
journalist on the TV beat, I have long been fascinated by the TV industry’s ability to spin the steady, consistent erosion of viewership that has been going on for years into audience growth
year after year.
For journalists on the receiving end of press releases from the TV networks, this phenomenon is an everyday occurrence. To hear the networks
tell it, every show they air experiences audience growth compared to the same time a year ago.
But in a world where traditional TV viewership is in decline,
how can this be possible? (Note: Only some of these releases pad the numbers with subsequent viewership after a show’s “live” broadcast -- or first run -- in its time
slot.)
The current season of upfront presentations in New York has been underway since March 2, when Nickelodeon kicked off its annual ad sales
efforts.
The upfronts reach their apogee next week with eight presentations staged in four days: On Monday, NBC and Fox; Tuesday: ESPN, Univision and ABC;
Wednesday: Turner and CBS; and Thursday: CW.
It’s a ridiculous schedule, particularly since there have been ample mornings, evenings and afternoons
during the last two weeks (at least) when some of these could have been scheduled. Instead, hundreds of ad agency reps, network executives, publicists, on-air talent of all types, and a smattering of
journalists will be run ragged through the streets of midtown Manhattan.
But in the TV business, traditions die hard. And this circus-like upfront week has
been around for a very long time. The exhaustion of it is as much a part of upfront week as the blarney.
Dare I admit that as a matter of fact,
attending these things is actually fun? Or at the very least, that’s the attitude I have adopted over the years in order to get through them.
When
observing the excited throngs from the advertising world flocking to these events, I imagine that for them, the upfronts are akin to the field trips we used to experience in school when we were
growing up.
Field trip days were like a day off from school. Being assigned to go to the upfronts probably feels similar, or so it seems.
I will also admit that as largely promotional events, the “news” value of these upfront presentations does not necessarily pass the newsworthiness test in all
ways.
However, there is sometimes news in the programs the networks announce -- particularly in those instances when a “reveal” survives all the
way up to upfront time without being leaked in advance.
Personally, I always get a lot out of these events. For me, they’re an annual check-in
opportunity on the state of the TV business, including how each network is positioning itself, its various platforms and content both new and returning.
Every year, there are new and surprising angles to pursue, as well as new jargon to learn, new personalities in programming and ad sales to watch as they pace the stages and read their
scripts off of huge teleprompter screens.
It is a journalist’s job to watch, listen, take notes and then write about what it was like to be there. Save
me a seat.