Upfront Reviews: ESPN, Turner Networks, NBC Universal Cable Networks

ESPNVenue The Minskoff Theater on W 45th St off Broadway just a block from NokiaBest Buy Theater the belowstreet space playing home to this event the last few years Perhaps to highlight the move ESPN offered more preshow action beyond welcoming attendees with bagels juice and mascots or cheerleaders strolling along they were as plentiful as ever Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic cohosts of ESPN RadioESPN239s Mike ampamp Mike in the Morning did a special quotpregamequot version of their popular simulcast from a balcony box complete with analysis of local sports action the night before and reaction to the NFL Draft picks by the NY Giants and Jets At one point Golic warbled a tune fulfilling his passion for karaoke on the spot In the most unique preevent moment at any upfront this year Numbers Never Lie cohost Jemele Hill went offscript from her bit with cohost Michael Smith thanking him for saving her life the night before when she choked during a meal Smith applied the Heimlich manuever Between the banter an ESPN quothouse bandquot held court on the Minskoff stage Yes they did their funky take on the SportsCenter themeall together now on the ending DAHDADA DAHDADA Grade 5 JacksPresentation The elements of ESPN39s annual public pitch don39t shift much yearoveryear They present videos showing both the variety of sports they cover and how they impact society miniinterviews with local sports stars examples of unique ad campaigns chunks of irreverent comedy usually from the head of sportscaster Kenny Mayne and ESPN president and cochairman Disney Media Networks John Skipper and his colleagues making their ad sales appeals Again stimulated by the new venue the elements came off as more cohesive fresh frisky and appealing Welcoming back Michelle Beadle to SportsNation after two years with NBC Sports Network Skipper invited Beadle to check what upfront she was at Beadle took the ribbing in stride without missing a beat Keith Olbermann another returnee to this fold mocked his past life as the first ESPN2 personality way back when Mayne had the audience in hysterics with his essay on madeup buzzwords And ESPN broke from tradition with its first musical number celebrating its final World Cup Soccer tournament coverage this summer complete with samba dancers drummers and confetti Grade 45 JacksNews SportsCenter debuts its new digitalpowered set with two separate studio areas and 114 monitors in Bristol Connecticut late next month The dedication was this past Monday with a press tour scheduled for May 22 SEC Network launching August 14 now has carriage deals with Uverse Dish Network Google Fiber and National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative but is still awaiting its first cable operator contract An audience measurement project monitoring ad effectiveness across ESPN39s TV digitalonline print and radio ventures is coming soon Grade 3 JacksHost Rotated among Skipper other ESPN executives and talent Grade 4 JacksOverall Grade 4 Jacks The most energetic balanced production from ESPN in several years Amazing what a change of scenery can doNow for some additional comments and Jacks on two showcases covered earlier this week by Ed MartinNBC Universal Cable EntertainmentVenue The stage of Javitz Center39s North Hall was far more animated here than at NBC39s kickoff effort earlier in the week There attendees saw NBC39s logo in the center and nothing much on the sides except the 8G Band to the right Here there were bright colors and shifting pix of the talent on NBC Universal39s various cable nets on both sides of the stage Grade 45 JacksPresentation The concern attendees had going in was how NBC would display its cable channel universe without going overboard on time NBC responded in three ways A Limiting the focus to seven networks all entertainmentoriented as in USA E Syfy Oxygen Bravo Esquire and Sprout B Tying them up with the quotAll Togetherquot tagline and C Adopting the approach that worked so well at USA39s upfront closer last May highlight the talent and turn the majority of time over to coming attractions A threeway approach was also used to emphasize the quotAll Togetherquot theme in videos For a running joke network personalities were called in to audition for the coveted quotupfront hostquot role A stunning clip near the top had those same personalities pose for the camera in blackandwhite The Soup host Joel McHale came on stage near the finish to announce quotSizzle the new network of all sizzle reels all the timequot and blow the tag line to a ComcastTime Warner Cable merger joke However Sprout39s presentation time was relegated to passing references in the videos The channel whose talent was among the 120 celebrities taking part deserved a better showcase Grade 4 JacksNews World Wrestling Entertainment declared that its Monday Night Raw and Smackdown programming on USA and Syfy respectively will continue under a new multiyear deal Ditto Total Divas on E With premieres of Rush Satisfaction and Complications ahead USA promised to launch more original series in the next 12 months than in the channel39s entire history Grade 25 JacksHost NBC Universal Cable leader Bonnie Hammer and ad sales chief Linda Yaccarino led this charge well Grade 4 JacksOverall Grade 45 Jacks The crowd wanted a lively multinetwork presentation from this organization out of the block and they got it They didn39t get a lot about Sprout and that39s unfortunate How about breaking them out into a separate eventTBSTNTVenue The Theater at Madison Square Garden holding its second big upfrontNewFront offering in recent weeks Instead of the spectacular kinetic staging GoogleYouTube put on with its Brandcast TBSTNT went stark with a ringshaped stage that reminded me of The Time Tunnel Big drawback because much of the stage was dark stars of various series had to be escorted from the wings to take their postclip bows We could see that activity and it was very awkward and distracting Grade 25 JacksPresentation Along with devoting most of the time to TNT39s new original programming focus and that quotBoomquot tag there was time not to take the direction too seriously Credit that to TBSTNT president Michael Wright39s selfparody admitting to the audience that his agony over coming up with new hit originals impacted his family life One of the best senior executive turns at any upfront Plus credit Steve Carell for playing a heckler in the front rows when Wright went on too long about TNT39s new aspirations quotPlay the comedy tapequot Carell yelled several times before Wright gave in And yes as Ed said in an upfront week filled with latenight hosts skewering everything about TV Conan O39Brien39s closing monologue came off tired and way meanspirited Grade 4 JacksNews TNT is looking more into work from independent producersproduction companies rather than sister Time Warner entity Warner Bros for new series development Of seven series on the development docket just one is from WB President X through its Warner Horizon unit Agent X the Sharon Stonestarring pilot is still under consideration Three series are in development at TBS Grade 35 JacksHost Wright came into his own no doubt about that Grade 45 JacksOverall Grade 4 Jacks The approach was solid hampered by the awkward transportation of series stars onandoff stageThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

Become a Thought Leader. Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership

Upfront Reviews: ESPN, Turner Networks, NBC Universal Cable Networks

Author

Publish date

Channel

Archived in

Simon Applebaum

Hispanic Leadership Roundtable: Inclusion, Mentorship, and Building the Next Generation (Video) - By Juan Ayala

More Videos:

Become a Thought Leader. Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership

Upfront Reviews: ESPN, Turner Networks, NBC Universal Cable Networks

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Simon Applebaum

Hispanic Leadership Roundtable: Inclusion, Mentorship, and Building the Next Generation (Video) - By Juan Ayala

The payment was successful

Cookies