The cancellation of the annual May upfronts week was announced a month ago after all major media companies canceled their presentation gatherings in person and instead, decided to host virtual events amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Many presenters stated that it would be very challenging for all companies to agree on a single week to reschedule the meeting. While some, such as NBCU, Fox, and Disney among others decided to postpone the event, other CEOs like FOX EntertainmentS, Charlie Collier will hold virtual halls with clients.
That means this will be the first year without an upfronts week—in any form—in decades. Each May, buyers and advertisers traditionally congregate in New York before the upfront marketplace heats up for a week of glitzy presentations, client meetings and plenty of cocktails. The TV advertising tradition is predicted to disintegrate this year as a result of the crisis as most presenters have delayed their virtual events for several weeks and others rethought their plans entirely.
Only two presenters—ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia/Xandr—explicitly committed to sharing those video presentations during their previously scheduled upfront week timeframes, though it was assumed that most other companies would follow suit and that upfronts week would still take place, albeit virtually. But in the following weeks, as the novel coronavirus continued to wreak havoc on the industry and the country, it became clear that this year’s upfront marketplace could not move forward as planned.
Buyers told Adweek publication that they likely will not be able to conduct upfront negotiations in the usual late spring/summer time frame, with many doubtful that their clients will have upfront budgets in place by May, given that so many companies are reeling from the financial impact of the pandemic with no relief in sight. In other words, “we’re not going to go to market until our clients are ready to go and comfortable with committing in advance,” said one buyer.
That reality, coupled with the fact that almost all TV production has ground to a halt—including all the broadcast pilots in contention for next year’s schedules—made the prospect of a May upfronts week untenable.