Brock Purdy #13 of the San Francisco 49ers prepares to take a snap in the first quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs0 during Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Michael Reaves | Getty Images
Media giants relied on sports last year to woo advertisers during Upfronts meeting week, at a time when a Hollywood strike and cost-cutting hurt their content and star power.
Even though stars were back on stage this year after the strikes ended, the presentations still focused more on sports than scripted shows.
The aftermath of last year’s work break meant that some media companies were able to highlight fewer series and films in their presentations. Cost reduction by companies, including Disney And Warner Bros. Discovery didn’t help matters.
Live sports remained the darling of upfront meetings as it still attracts the largest audience and therefore the most advertising dollars.
“I find [the companies] benefited from earnings during the strike. And I think there’s been a reluctance to expand because it’s been about understanding how content spending really drives returns,” said Tom Rogers, chief executive of Oorbit Gaming and Entertainment and former president of NBC Cable.
“There used to be this kind of automation where you would release a certain amount of programming for the new season, and it was relatively formulaic, without any real understanding of how content drove profitability,” he added.
He pointed to two key problems for traditional media companies: the decline of traditional television and the rising fees that companies have to pay to broadcast live sports.
“If you want to keep content spending at a reduced level, that by definition means your entertainment programming has to be reduced,” Rogers said.
Light on entertainment
A scene from Marvel’s Daredevil Season 3 on Netflix
Source: Netflix
Disney has been playing trailers for the upcoming Disney+ series “Agatha All Along” and “Daredevil: Born Again,” but has only highlighted the next season of the popular series “The Bear,” which is also streaming on Hulu, for its cable channel FX. The company also announced “Golden Bachelorette,” the next installment of ABC’s popular reality series.
Warner Bros. Discovery highlighted series like “House of the Dragon” and “And Just Like That,” both spin-offs of HBO series.
“However, a strong content offering – be it sports or entertainment – is only one piece of the puzzle,” said Amy Leifer, chief advertising sales officer at DIRECTV Advertising. “With the explosive growth of [ad-supported streaming]“The modern viewing experience depends as much on the content as it does on the advertising that supports it.”
Some films played a big role at the upfronts, especially after streaming services like NBCUniversal’s Peacock recently received a boost from blockbusters like “Oppenheimer.”
Comcast’NBCUniversal focused on the upcoming musical film “Wicked” and the renewal of some Peacock original series.
The summer box office season for movies, which runs from the first weekend in May through Labor Day, is expected to shrink by about $800 million this year as the season brings a limited and unsteady stream of blockbuster films. It follows a second quarter that was almost 50% behind ticket sales in the same period last year.
The film calendar is expected to increase in the fourth quarter with big titles like Warner Bros. “Joker: Folie a Deux,” Paramount’s “Gladiator II,” Disney Animation’s “Moana 2” and Universal’s “Wicked” are in theaters. The 2025 and 2026 calendar is expected to bring a significant increase in titles, including features from major franchises such as Marvel, Star Wars, Batman, Super Mario Bros. and rollover tickets for a third Avatar film.
Meanwhile, technology giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which recently added cheaper, ad-supported tiers to its streaming platforms, kicked off Upfronts week in full force, showcasing not only sports but also upcoming films and series.
Amazon, which now owns MGM Studios, has announced renewals and upcoming seasons of original series like “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” “The Boys” and “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” Actor Jake Gyllenhaal announced a sequel to “Roadhouse” and Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon discussed their film “You’re Cordially Invited.”
Meanwhile, Netflix announced the sequel to Adam Sandler’s “Happy Gilmore” as well as a number of other series.
Athletic dominance
The Olympic Rings were placed in front of the Eiffel Tower to celebrate the French capital winning the right to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Sopa pictures | Light rocket | Getty Images
The NFL was once again the winner of most upfront presentations this year.
Tentpole sports programs from the Summer Olympics to the NBA, which attract the largest TV and streaming audiences and tons of advertising dollars, were also key parts of the presentations.
“We often hear from top customers that the importance of advance purchases has diminished beyond securing placements in live sports,” said Mike Dupree, chief revenue officer at Teads, a global premium publishing platform. “Access to high-quality content in an on-demand world has alleviated the scarcity that historically drove the upfront model. Live sport appears to be the last bastion, as rights renegotiations prove.”
NBCUniversal devoted much of its presentation to the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris. The NFL played a role in all presentations, even for the newcomer to the ad-supported streaming landscape, Netflix. It made perhaps the biggest splash in sports during Upfronts week when, hours before its presentation, it was announced that it had agreed to broadcast NFL games on Christmas Day for the next three years.
Amazon debuted Thursday Night Football, its second Black Friday game, and an upcoming Wild Card Playoff game in January – the first ever for Prime.
“This year we saw media giants betting on big bets like “Wicked,” the Olympics and sports superstars like Jason Kelce to create buzz,” said Tim Hurd, vice president of media activation at digital marketing agency Goodway Group . “The evolving live sports landscape and the use of college sports, NFL games and the Olympics as a cross-platform experience has been very exciting.”
Kelce, who recently retired from the NFL after 13 years with the Philadelphia Eagles, appeared in advance at Disney to announce that he would be a commentator for ESPN starting this season. His appearance made headlines – as he and his brother Travis Kelce often do – when he picked up “Abbott Elementary” star and creator Quinta Brunson during the event.
—Sarah Whitten contributed to this article.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.
Don’t miss these exclusives from CNBC PRO
Source link
2024-05-18 12:00:01
www.cnbc.com
