At Upfronts, Bigger Is Better Again

After Moving Away From Big Annual Presentations, Some Companies Are Reversing Course.

- Jason Lynch

Over the past couple years, several media companies have scrapped their lavish annual upfront events, opting for more intimate, and far less expensive, dinners and meetings with individual agencies. Discovery Communications, AMC Networks and A+E Networks—joined this year by Viacom (for more on that company’s upfront strategy, go to page 14)— decided that when it came to splashy upfront spectacles, less was more.

But now, some of them are having second thoughts, with both AMC and A+E reversing course and reinstituting their upfront productions. Peter Olsen, evp of national ad sales for A+E Networks, said the company’s annual fête—held in late April or early May—had gotten lost in the crush of NewFronts and upfront events. After taking last year off, he moved his presentation to mid-March. “We rethought it and said, doing a big brand event early, it gives it more time to seep in and [the ad sales team more time to] actually activate off it,” said Olsen. “We like this time frame.”