• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, March 19, 2025

TV upfronts are still important. But in future years they may look to be more special.

NBCUniversal is counting on this -- in particular, highlighting more big events for its usual Monday day-and-time start of the traditional TV upfront week at Radio City Music Hall.

Spanish-language network Telemundo will get its own evening on Tuesday, after Amazon Prime Video took over its Monday Night slot.

But it's more than that. For the 2025-2026 TV season, it will capitalize on a number of major program events and one big branding effort -- the 100-year anniversary of NBC.

If that isn’t enough, NBC will have Super Bowl LX, the 2026 Winter Olympics, and the return of the NBA around springtime a year from now. It will also include the not-insignificant FIFA World Cup on Telemundo and Peacock, which will be the exclusive Spanish-language home to the event.

There is a sense that big live TV events -- sports, awards or otherwise -- seem to be of more importance. That is not just with broadcast, but streaming events as well.

Think of where Netflix strategy is currently -- especially with sports, the “Tyson/Paul” high-profile boxing event (in November), its two special exclusive NFL Christmas Day games, its WWE live special events.

Big special events can spike a network/streaming -- especially in a disruptive world where there are growing choices. All that can be a challenge in keeping loyal viewers around the limiting overall “churn,” with consumers opting out. That said, consumer viewing behavior traditionally is more fluid on linear TV networks.

Consider “special programming” in a broader context as well. NBC’s every other year two-week airing of the Olympics is one of those broader events that the TV network/streaming group increasingly counts on.

The NFL also counts on this business. NBC got a major spike from a NFL wild-card playoff game a year ago for its streamer Peacock. Amazon got one of those playoffs games this past season -- and will get more in the future.

Even the Oscars and the Grammys -- for ABC and CBS, respectively -- maintain stable or growing audiences. Consumers regularly return to these shows and networks. Streamers see this and will try to grab more of this in the future -- all to make them more come across as more special.