Upfront Update: GMC/Aspire's Bus Stop; Future Forecasting At The Weather Channel - Simon Applebaum

Our Upfront pair for review in this column is as a lyric from The Patty Duke Show goes different as night and dayGMC TVAspireVenue As other channels park their events inside facilities all over Manhattan GMC TV changing its title to Up June 1 literally parks on the street Network executives use a tour bus to make their points a tworoom vehicle with tables and video screens This year as last the bus catered to visitors outside Bryant Park on W 40th St with crusty shrimp veggie sticks and salad among the delectables The walls inside and decor outside were filled with plays on the new name quotShake It UpquotquotPowered Upquot and Start Me Up from The Rolling Stones played during the prepresentation lunch Grade 4 JacksPresentation Vice chairman Brad Siegel did double duty showcasing what39s ahead for UP as well as for Aspire the Magic Johnsonowned channel GMC assists on marketing and advertising sales Up exists as quotthe uplifting entertainment destination valueaffirming TV multicultural and multigenerationalquot while Aspire two months away from marking its first anniversary quotwill be the platform for the next generation of AfricanAmerican groundbreakersquot Siegel said Both represent quotlungeproof TV meaning you don39t have to lunge for the remotequot and turn elsewhere On carriage Up expects to break 70 million homes by the end of 2013 from 621 million homes now with Aspire wrapping the year with 1820 million homes from 15 million Several presentation videos stressed the value of advertisers participating in familyfriendly entertainment while Siegel hinted that for Up sponsors involved with the Alliance For Family Entertainment may partner up on original scripted series Grade 45 JacksNews Up will launch a Saturday night quotOriginal Playhousequot on a weekly basis this summer or fall increasing the presence of its popular stage plays Two original reality series will start this summer Family Addition about adoption with Leigh Anne Tuohy the subject of the Oscarwinning filmThe Blind Spot and Bullock Family Ranch Some 40 original scriptedunscripted series are under development at Up and one Miracle Hunters will get a tryout as a special this fall At least seven madefor movies will premiere between May and the end of 2013 including two Christmas tales Up also will get TV premiere rights to Life of A King a film starring Cuba Gooding Jr as a reformed chess whiz coming to theaters this summer Up served as coproducer On Aspire39s year two calendar premieres of Exhale relationship talk series We Got Next standupsketch comedy showcase and two series involving the United Negro College Fund Special note Up issued a press release on its announcements while Aspire did not Grade 4 JacksHost Given the need to represent two channels instead of one Aspire executives were unavailable to attend due to a meeting elsewhere Siegel gave Up and Aspire equal due as growing sources of familyfriendly content and diversity Grade 4 JacksOverall Grade 4 Jacks This bus stopover proves you don39t always need a big stage eyecatching scenery or visual effects to score points about a network39s two in this case direction5 Jacks Excellent4 Jacks Very Good3 Jacks Good2 Jacks Fair1 Jack Poor0 Jacks Worse than badThe Weather ChannelVenue For its first such event since 2008 Weather Channel went with the Mandarin Ballroom on the 36th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at Time Warner Center This rarelyused location for Upfronts has a compact intimate surrounding with table seating After attendees enjoyed a breakfast buffet in the lobby they found a stage with blue umbrellas on the back wall Grade 45 Jacks Presentation Here39s an early nominee for most unique openingChoral Chameleon a group dressed in white shirts and tan slacks walking on stage and using their voices and body language simulated a severe rainstorm jumping updown to creating thunder Bobby McFerrin would have liked this From there TWC management and onair forecasters Jim Cantore and Maria LaRosa documented all the ways current and future their service exists as trusted authority for weather information Chief executive officer David Kenny urged advertisers to reach out and expand their support because weather matters more than ever some 50 million people Kenny termed quotweather enthusiastsquot have daily forecasts matter most and the channel is rededicating itself to quotmake a better viewing environmentquot Grade 4 JacksNews An upgraded mix of technology and computer graphics will allow viewers to see their local forecast the moment they switch on TWC 247 on one side of the screen as a horizontal banner at the bottom or both before the end of 2013 Both formats will have room for advertiser logos or videos Primetime hours will feature more weekly series while a Weather Set Go daypart will dominate mornings New series arriving by September include Secrets Of The Earth Weather That Changed The World and Strangest Weather On Earth All these series and others will emphasize science developments along with weather added TWC president David Clark The longrunning Local On The 8s feature local forecasts every 10 minutes has a facelift coming with oncamera hosts involved for the first time Some developments such as Weather Set Go and the Local On makeover left you wishing more details set in stone Grade 35 JacksHost Duties were scattered among Cantore LaRosa and the TWC executives all handling their portions well Grade 4 Jacks Overall Grade 4 Jacks A wellcrafted presentation leading off in extremely creative manner with exciting news of what39s ahead this fall 247 local info anytime you start watching the Local On The 839s faceliftand leaving you with few details over their execution5 Jacks Excellent4 Jacks Very Good3 Jacks Good2 Jacks Fair1 Jack Poor0 Jacks Worse than badNext up Bravo and Discovery CommunicationsUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedSimon Applebaum is producerhost of Tomorrow Will Be Televised the radio program all about TV Tomorrow runs live Mondays and Fridays at 3 pm Eastern time noon Pacific Time on wwwblogtalkradiocom with replays available at wwwblogtalkradiocomsimonapple04 A weekly TV series edition will soon premiere on the new UBCTV network Have a question or reaction Email it to simonapple04yahoocom or tweet UBCSimonTWBTRead all Simonamp8217s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Tomorrow Will Be TelevisedCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe 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 commentariesamp160

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Upfront Update: GMC/Aspire's Bus Stop; Future Forecasting At The Weather Channel - Simon Applebaum

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Upfront Update: GMC/Aspire's Bus Stop; Future Forecasting At The Weather Channel - Simon Applebaum

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