Upfront News and Views: Turner's Battle Cry -- Ad Status Quo, Out You Go

Venueamp160 The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden whose namesake service was on display for its own event two weeks earlieramp160 En route to the theater visitors walked through a corridor of sound taken from various Turner attractions then picked up coffee and breakfast in a bagamp160 Videowalls large and small on all sides of the stage displayed moody shapes and faint images of control room machinery as attendees reached their seatsamp160 Early indications of how cuttingedge this event would end up being amp160Grade 45 JacksPresentationamp160 Instead of opening with the usual wellcrafted videoamp160montage Turner Ad Sales President Donna Speciale walked out and issued a challenge to the crowdamp160 The way you spend on TV is a dead end in this unfolding era of modern media usage among audiences she declaredamp160 Rather she continued it is time to stop and consider viewers as passionate fans of franchises that exist in multiple environments from TV to live eventsamp160 quotFans engagement timeshifting amp8230 this is our world todayquot Speciale saidamp160 quotWhen you transact on passive viewing we all loseamp160 Our partnerships must reflect where people are todayamp160 Let39s get startedquotamp160 At every chance Speciale and other Turner executives urged mass adoption of quotomnichannelquot campaigns where spending goes to individual network franchises and every outreach they use to engage fansamp160 TBSTNT President Kevin Reilly pictured at top also encouraged sponsors to invest in content where women are in front and behind the cameraamp160 quotThat39s the winning formulaquot he suggestedamp160 Graphics on the videowalls supplemented the main message by highlighting linear multiplatform and social media reaction to individual seriesamp160amp160Grade 5 JacksNewsamp160 TNT will launch two genre series ventures next year Ridley Scott Presents science fiction supervised by the awardwinning director and Suspense Collection mystery tales along the creative lines of hit miniseries The Alienistamp160amp160One Day She39ll Darken racismlaced drama involving Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins will be the opening Suspense project next January followed by Tell Me Your Secrets thriller previously known as Deadlier Than the Male around summeramp160amp160Snowpiercer the series rendition of the 2013 film is also expected to debut early 2019amp160amp160Miracle Workers with Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Buscemiamp160leading the cast will be among the new TBS series next seasonamp160 New offerings from truTV in the months ahead include Tacoma FD This Functional Family and longawaited Bobcat Goldthwait39s Misfits ampamp Monsters anthologyamp160 Look for a number of new shortrun CNN programs under the quotOriginal Seriesquot banner during 201819 weeknights at 10 pm or Sunday nightsamp160 The new group includes American Style The Redemption Project and Decades of Moviesamp160amp160Grade 5 JacksPictured above Daniel Radcliffe of TBSamp8217s Miracle Workers Samantha Bee of TBSamp8217s Full Frontal with Samantha Bee John Martin Chairman and CEO Turner Hostsamp160 Several personalities delivered outstanding turns throughout the eventamp160amp160Hamilton star Daveed Diggs a featured player in Snowpiercer followed Speciale39s opening appeal with quotTell Me aamp160Storyquot powerfully written and delivered and one of the most riveting performances of the entire Upfront seasonamp160 Anderson Cooper was at his cool best headlining the CNN segment and in what39s become an annual surefire crowdpleaser conducting an hilarious interview that goes nowhere with Conan O39Brien and Shaquille O39Nealamp160 Speciale and Reilly know how to deliver a message with punch and selfsatireamp160amp160Grade 5Star Timeamp160 Quick and memorable standup sequences first from Full Frontal host Samantha Bee quotJello you guys are looking for a new spokesperson rightquot then from The Last OG costar Tiffany Haddish quotA human is a human as long you39re rich and pay all my billsquot and towards the end OG star Tracy Morgan who waxed profusely about the aftermath of the highway accident that almost killed himamp160 quotI got myself a speech therapist and I39m talking like thisquotamp160amp160Snoop Dogg now in his second season hosting The Joker39s Wild on TBS closed the proceedings with his hit rap quotRolling Down The Streetquot set to funky graphics on those videowallsamp160 When you get an audience of advertisers to chant quotbow wow wow yippieyo yippieyayquot in harmony that39s an accomplishmentamp160 Way to snoop Snoopamp160amp160Grade 5 JacksCuisineamp160 Just coffee a chocolateswirled croissant and fruit cocktailamp160 Grade 2 Jacksamp160 Note Cuisine ratings doamp160not figure in the overall Jacks scoreData Insightamp160 Turner39s family of channels accounted for 12 percent of all settop recorded videoondemand transactions during the first three months of 2018amp160 TNT39s The Alienist was watched by an average of six million linear viewers and 51 million multiplatform viewers per episodeamp160 These were just two of the many data factoids offeredamp160 Great use of clips from past Turner Upfronts demonstrating consistent data leadership in pushing the industry forwardamp160amp160Grade 5 JacksInnovative Opportunityamp160 A new Turner Ignite Studios enterprise will give marketers access to TBSTNTtruTv series creators and producers to codevelop commercials and campaignsamp160amp160Full Frontal will launch This Is Not aamp160Game The Game a free trivia app where users can play for prizes and register to vote in the 2018 midterm electionsamp160 Look for the app around July or Augustamp160amp160Grade 4amp160JacksOverall Gradeamp160 5 Jacksamp160 This presentation had it all omnipresent theme in play great variety of segments plenty of news significant takeaways and entertaining star turns at every turnamp160 Definitely one of the top UpfrontNewFront events of 2018Our Jacks scoring system amp1605 Jacks Excellent 4 Jacks Very Good 3 Jacks amp160Good 2 Jacks amp160Fair 1 Jack amp160Poor 0 Jacks Donamp8217t go therePhoto credit TurnerClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Upfront News and Views: Turner's Battle Cry -- Ad Status Quo, Out You Go

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Simon Applebaum

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Upfront News and Views: Turner's Battle Cry -- Ad Status Quo, Out You Go

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