Upfront Week 2011 – Rating the Networks’ Upfront Extravaganzas – Ed Martin

Given the growth in the media economy during the last year and the positive projections going forward, we might have expected more than we got from Upfront Week 2011. That is to say, most of the presentations last week were perfectly serviceable, but with the possible exception of Fox’ grand finale and an unexpected crisis at the Turner event there weren’t any particularly memorable moments advertisers and journalists will be talking about next year – or next month, for that matter.

Every network succeeded in getting its messages across, but that’s only half the battle. Did they also generate excitement for their fall schedules and shows? Time will tell. Regardless, I’d like to acknowledge the tremendous amount of work that goes into producing all of the presentations noted below. Even the smallest Upfront presentation is a massive undertaking.

The following is my hindsight critique of all the Upfront action. In keeping with tradition, each network has been assigned a “Jacks” rating after a collective assessment of its overall presentation, clarity of messaging, program positioning, star power and entertainment value.

5 Jacks – Excellent
4 Jacks – Very Good
3 Jacks – Good
2 Jacks – Fair
1 Jack – Poor
0 Jacks – Worse than bad

Fox – 5 Jacks

The week’s most engaging Upfront event served as a perfect example of a network maximizing the appeal of its existing content while seeking to excite advertisers and journalists about its future programming. An opening number by new Glee favorites The Warblers, followed by comments from Jane Lynch (in character as cut-throat coach Sue Sylvester) set the tone for the show to come, which included Fox’ annual parade of stars (“A 90-second sashay that cost the network 75 first class seats and more presidential suites than a Saudi bachelor party,” snarled Sue), the first appearance by the full X-Factor team (including a brief reunion of American Idol judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, the latter quickly shooed from the stage) and, at the end, a performance by seven contestants from the current season of Idol (including the extraordinary James Durbin, who had just been eliminated four days before) along with several dancers from recent seasons of So You Think You Can Dance. I expected to see a dinosaur from Terra Nova in front of the Beacon Theater where the presentation was held, or at the Wollman Rink in Central Park during the party, but beyond that it seemed that Fox did all it could to jazz its guests.

CBS – 4 ½ Jacks

There is no denying the perpetual power and polished punch of CBS’ annual presentation at Carnegie Hall, even if it feels somewhat repetitive after all these years. Overall, it’s the ideal environment in which to introduce new programs and personalities. Credit the unwavering energy of CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler, who once again filled that cavernous venue with her boundless enthusiasm for her team’s output. She was the most engaging executive on any stage at any Upfront presentation this season. Introducing stars from the network’s shows in the audience rather than parading all of them on stage worked well and kept things moving. The only thing missing was entertainment value, something the Upfront audience has come to expect from CBS. If it’s too much trouble to bring in stars from Broadway musicals (as the network used to do) how about a song from by acclaimed award show host and How I Met Your Mother co-star Neil Patrick Harris? He’s usually in the house.

The CW – 4 ½ Jacks

As noted in my Upfront reviews from past years, The CW consistently proves that a little network can do a lot to stand out among the major broadcast players. Anyone in Frederick P. Rose HallinJazz at Lincoln Centerwho wasn’t impressed with that kinetic opening performance by the high-energy electro-hip-hoppers LMFAO (and a faux flash mob) was probably DOA to begin with. The fast-moving presentation that followed featured ample star power (including Tyra Banks and the stars of The Vampire Diaries), dazzling imagery on six active video screens and actual information about the network’s social media initiatives that consisted of much more than boasting about how many Facebook friends it has. (Two new initiatives – an online game played via Facebook called cwingo and a digital shopping experience with Shop-Kick -- will both encourage live television viewing of CWseries.) Outgoing CW Entertainment president Dawn Ostroff bid farewell, and her successor, Mark Pedowitz, made his Upfront debut. All in all a wonderful presentation – though I can’t speak for all those attendees who found themselves seated in the adjacent Allen Room, which couldn’t have been as exciting as being in Rose Hall.

Turner – 4 Jacks

The most memorable experience of Upfront Week 2011 was the stuff of which nightmares are made: A power surge at the Hammerstein Ballroom lead to multiple massive equipment failures throughout the eagerly anticipated presentations by TBS and TNT. The first failure came after Conan O’Brien introduced a clip that wouldn’t play. (“You know, I love working at TBS,” he quipped.) Sitting in the audience watching Turner Entertainment president Steve Koonin do his best to keep everyone engaged as the technical problems dragged on was like being a spectator in someone else’s bad dream. But I’ve got to say, Koonin kicked ass under the worst possible circumstances. As always, the Turner networks didn’t hold back on the star power: Ray Romano, George Lopez, Jason Lee, Timothy Hutton, Angie Harmon, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Scott Bakula, Noah Wyle, Mark-Paul Gosselaar and many others took the stage. A touching farewell from Kyra Sedgwick and the cast of The Closer (which won’t actually end until summer 2012) was a highlight of Turner’s wildly unpredictable morning.

NBC – 3 ½ Jacks

NBC’s Upfront presentation felt overlong and its locale (a ballroom at the midtown Hilton Hotel) was underwhelming, but content-wise it delivered the goods. The audience got to know new NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt and get a sense of his plans to breathe new life into the beleaguered network, and it was nice to see industry veteran Ted Harbert, now chairman of NBC Broadcasting, back on a New York Upfront stage. (His call for NBC to focus “a little less on reinventing the wheel and a lot more on broadcasting” brought some of the loudest applause of the week from the advertising community.) Also, NBC offered the only real surprise of the week: An appearance by Donald Trump, who announced that he would not be running for president and would focus instead on his reality franchise, Celebrity Apprentice. Throughout, NBC stepped up in grand Fox style with much home grown entertainment: House music from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon band The Roots, a Weekend Update routine from Saturday Night Live star Seth Meyers, a musical performance by Fallon and a couple of songs from Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green of The Voice. (Oddly, NBC kept many of its biggest stars in hiding, but they were at the lunch that followed.) All in all, NBC’s presentation was as high-impact as a low-key event can be.

ABC – 3 Jacks

I found ABC’s event to be the least interesting of Upfront week – and that’s not because I watched it online in the comfort of my home office. Rather, it’s because ABC once again put together an event that consisted almost entirely of executives making speeches and introducing clips. (The only relief came during appearances by Tim Allen and Jimmy Kimmel, the latter perhaps the single most valuable Upfront entertainer at any network.) That plays just fine when watching online, but I don’t think it’s the right way to introduce new shows to thousands of advertisers who are being inundated with information about hundreds of new programs in one week’s time. A glittering venue (Avery Fisher Hall) isn’t enough; not when the presentation delivered therein could just as easily take place in a conference room. Despite my disappointment, I’m giving ABC a rating of 3 Jacks (up a half-Jack from last year) because it does what it does with confidence and assurance. But I hope the network decides to step up next year, because as we saw with the across the board failure of every new fall series ABC introduced last May, vulnerable freshmen need all the help they can get, right from the start.