NY Yankees & New TV Season: There's Always Next Year

Jack MyersThink Tank

There's been a redundant theme to so many events of the past month: "Wait until next year. We'll do better next year." As Advertising Week in New York struggled to define its focus and brand identify last month, I left town and headed to Amsterdam, which was hosting a similar event, Picnic '07. I had been invited to keynote a public session on Virtual Worlds, one of many Picnic events open to the public.

In many ways, the Amsterdam event could be considered a model that organizers of New York's moribund Advertising Week should emulate. Although the venue was a 20-minute taxi ride out of inner Amsterdam into the suburbs, and even within the venue events were scattered across multiple buildings, it was centralized and allowed for networking and community. Topics covered a spectrum of media and advertising issues, from Virtual Worlds and Kevin Robert's "Lovemarks" to media esoterica and television economics. Over the course of a week, the event attracted industry executives from around the world, thousands of Europeans, a handful of Americans, and many thousand locals who could walk the grounds, attend a wide variety of free events, and be a part of the advertising community.

Each evening there were social events, rock bands, parties and hosted dinners.

Although the New York ad community has an aversion to the Javits Center, Adweek should bite that bullet and attach itself to a single venue. It should open itself again to the community and reintroduce events designed to celebrate the value, importance and creativity of advertising. Adweek has evolved into an insiders mish mosh of disparate events, separately planned, uncoordinated, often irrelevant, many poorly attended, and independently sponsored.

Maybe next year, organizers can move the event to the Javits Center where attendees can move easily from event to event, multiple events can be coordinated simultaneously, selected presentations can be open to the public, a trade show of sorts can evolve, and parties can be organized.

This is a perfect segue to the network television Upfront week foolishness that will once again feature more than 20 separate events splashed around New York City next May. Several countries, most prominently Germany and Brazil, host multiple day Upfront and multi-media events at a single venue. In Germany, the model is simple. It's a trade show. Each network receives an area where its executives can meet with clients, discuss and present programming, distribute literature, and introduce celebrities. Networks can invest as much or as little as they want in their display area.

Each major network also receives a pre-defined time slot when it hosts its major presentation and event in the venue's theater. Over the course of several days, advertising executives from across the world converge on Germany to attend the event. Several arrange meetings in advance with the networks, and those who are invited to the networks' major events and parties can organize their days accordingly.

Again, while Javits Center is far from an ideal location, why can't the Upfront evolve into a week-long celebration of network television hosted by the broadcast and cable networks? Why can't there be a trade show-style floor, conferences, an area open to the public where they can learn about the networks' planned schedules, dedicated press areas, networking areas, parties and special events? If the major networks want to host their major events at Radio City Music Hall or Carnegie Hall, great, but centralize the week's activities at one place and let's bring some coordination and sense to the process. Stream the video of the events into Javits Center, where overflow crowds can watch.

Speaking of the network Upfronts, the general dismal forecasts of critics following the networks' presentations last May are proving to have been right. The overall performance of the new network season has been disappointing with no new break-out hit, yet. CBS' Cane looks good, as does ABC's Women's Murder Club and Dirty Sexy Money. I'm rooting for Christina Applegate's Samantha Who?, but otherwise the new comedies are stale and lackluster. The networks are like the NY Yankees. Great teams; great talent; great promise; still packing the house with fans. But every year there's another disappointment. There's another let-down. Once again, we're focused on next year and the changes that need to be made. And, like the Yankees, the networks can continue to raise prices even as their performance declines.

What we haven't yet seen are this year's new crop of reality programs. That's where I predict the networks will find success this year. Audiences are overwhelmed with one-hour dramas they need to watch religiously week-after-week. With so many entertainment and media options, consumers are over booked. TV series that don't demand week-after-week dedication, and that can be viewed sporadically without losing track of the story and the characters, are more likely to survive.

And as far as the Yankees and baseball go, those who still have a horse in the race will watch, but except for Boston there has rarely been such a lackluster group of contenders. Fox could have had a grand slam if the finalists were Boston, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia. But Boston, Colorado, Arizona and Cleveland just don't cut it. Tough for Fox, but good news for the other networks that have a fighting chance to draw larger audiences to their new series. Unfortunately, the networks are fielding their versions of the Indians, the Diamondbacks and the Rockies. As a Yankee fan, God help me but I'm actually rooting for Boston. The world has truly turned upside down.