\n<\/p>\n
\n\tWarner Bros. Discovery kicked off its annual upfront event at the Madison Square Garden Theater by paying tribute to the late Ted Turner, who had just died the previous week. Turner, of course, was part of why WBD was even holding an upfront in the first place: Not only was the media giant a cable pioneer who brought us CNN, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network and more, but his Turner Broadcasting was the cornerstone of Warner Bros.\u2019 ad-supported media portfolio \u2014 something that expanded greatly with the Discovery Communications merger.<\/p>\n
\n\tBut as Anderson Cooper paid tribute to Turner, the audience of ad buyers, media analysts and reporters couldn\u2019t help but think about the elephant in the room \u2014 or, as WBD\u2019s presidents of U.S. advertising Ryan Gould\u00a0and\u00a0Bobby Voltaggio joked, the \u201cEllison in the room\u201d: This wasn\u2019t just a eulogy for Ted Turner. It could very well also be WBD\u2019s swan song, as the company will likely be consumed by Paramount Skydance before the next upfronts season.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe uncertainty of the TV business was on everyone\u2019s minds, of course, starting with what will happen with the Warner Bros. Discovery\/Paramount merger. But that\u2019s still to come. Right now, the congloms are back to focusing on their bread and butter: TV programming.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn recent years, it started to feel like the upfronts were less about TV and more about conglomerates pitching their entire 360 approach. Divisions that never made it on the network stage, like sports, theatrical movies and other brand synergies, suddenly got more time than what was airing on a Wednesday at 8 p.m. This year, the movies still popped up here and there \u2014 especially at WBD, which took a warranted bow for their smash 2025 \u2014 and sports were well-represented. But for the most part, the show was once again the thing.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI felt like people are feeling a little bullish again on TV, and the different ways that people are consuming shows,\u201d said Warner Bros. TV Group chairman\/CEO Channing Dungey. \u201cIt felt like good, old fashioned broadcast was back front and center. I was very happy to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAt NBC, that renewed focus on programming came as the network conducted a mini-pilot season for the first time in several years. \u201cThere was a very concerted effort on our part to invest and focus on scripted, and that\u2019s why we did the pilot season,\u201d said NBC\/Peacock scripted content head Lisa Katz. \u201cWe were really happy with the outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDungey said she was excited to see NBC shoot those eight pilots. \u201cThat is always encouraging, because they\u2019re making and I was reading what Lisa Katz was saying about being committed to doing more pilots again next season, which I think is great. We made a pilot this year for CBS that unfortunately didn\u2019t go, but it does feel like people are still investing and making things, which is exciting. Even in streaming, we\u2019re making pilots, including two right now for HBO Max.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tKey TV stars made appearances at all the upfront presentations, a nice throwback to the golden age of the network upfronts. But make no mistake, we live in different times: Not a single scheduling move or timeslot was mentioned at any of the upfronts throughout the week. And yet, there were several strategic surprises in how the networks, in particular, plan to roll out their new and returning series.<\/p>\n
\n\tHere are more key takeaways from the 2026 upfronts:<\/p>\n
\n\tMidseason Is The New Fall<\/strong>: Not too long ago, it would be unthinkable for a network like ABC to hold its No. 1 show (\u201cHigh Potential\u201d) off the fall skeds, CBS to push two of its biggest shows (\u201cMatlock\u201d and \u201cGhosts\u201d) to at least January or NBC to wait until midseason to launch a highly anticipated title like its \u201cThe Rockford Files\u201d reboot.<\/p>\n \n\tBut these are different times. For one thing, NFL and college football, plus other live sports, \u00a0dominates so much of primetime that it seems competitively like the best option is to wait until January for the real<\/em> TV season to begin. In September, just five hours of ABC\u2019s and seven hours of NBC\u2019s 22-hour-a-week lineups are scripted originals. Only two out of Fox\u2019s seven nights are scripted. And across all networks, just six new shows bow in the fall \u2014 with most waiting for post-football homes.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cNot only is the fall less vibrant, but it also is starting later,\u201d Dungey noted. \u201cI think it\u2019s because everyone just now wants to get out of the way of sports. That\u2019s what it feels like to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHigh Potential\u201d was moved to January in order to give the show an uninterrupted run, said Ari Goldman, ABC\u2019s senior vice president, content strategy and scheduling. \u201c\u201cWe\u2019re thinking about the behavior of our linear audience, but also the streaming viewers, who really have shown the importance of week-over-week steadiness in planning and rolling out these shows,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\tCBS had previously said the strength of its schedule allowed it to hold \u201cMatlock\u201d and \u201cGhosts\u201d to midseason, and indeed the Eye network does have limited shelf space given all of its franchises (\u201cNCIS,\u201d \u201cFBI,\u201d \u201cCountry\u201d).<\/p>\n \n\tAs for \u201cRockford Files,\u201d NBC also had no place to put it, given its multiple nights of sports. The network decided newbie \u201cLine of Fire\u201d made more sense coming out of \u201cThe Voice\u201d on Mondays at 10 p.m., while \u201cTraitors\u201d had to go in the fall so it didn\u2019t butt up against the celebrity edition on Peacock \u2014 and those were its only two free hours. (NBC execs believe \u201cRockford\u201d is more of an 8 p.m. blue sky show \u2014 and could very well take the Thursday 8 p.m. slot once civilian \u201cThe Traitors\u201d completes its run).<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s also perhaps an acknowledgement that audiences have become used to longer waits for their favorite shows, vs. the days when a summer break was the longest a hit went without an episode.<\/p>\n \n\tThose longer hiatuses also come as some network series see reduced episodic counts (although still more than streaming shows). There are some exceptions (the Dick Wolf shows tend to be closer to 21 episodes), but for dramas, \u201cI feel like the new normal has become somewhere between 15 and 18 episodes,\u201d Dungey said.<\/p>\n \n\tComedy Conundrum:<\/strong> Only three new laffers made it on to the network skeds next season: \u201cEternally Yours\u201d at CBS and \u201cSunset P.I.\u201d and \u201cNewlyweds\u201d at NBC. Fox, which is down to just one live action comedy, told reporters it was reassessing its financial model for comedy, while ABC is thrilled with the success of the \u201cScrubs\u201d revival \u2014 but also doesn\u2019t have much space for half hours.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI think you have to be patient with them,\u201d Katz said. \u201cWe\u2019ve always known that comedies usually take time, but when you have the talent behind them, both in front and behind the camera, and you can get something like a \u2018St. Denis or a \u2018Happy\u2019s Place\u2019 or a \u2018Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins,\u2019 there\u2019s nothing better.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tComedy isn\u2019t just for broadcast, of course, as the genre blossoms on streaming \u2014 Season 2 of \u201cRunning Point\u201d has been a success for Netflix, for example, and HBO Max\u2019s \u201cThe Rooster\u201d just posted a strong ratings story. Apple TV has turned \u201cShrinking\u201d into a hit, and is about to bring back \u201cTed Lasso.\u201d HBO Max, meanwhile, is generating a ton of interest in \u201cStuart Fails to Save the Universe,\u201d a new sci-fi-heavy chapter in \u201cThe Big Bang Theory\u201d universe.<\/p>\n \n\tBlue Skies Are Here:<\/strong> While streaming audiences still seem to have an appetite for dark and moody, the recent successes of shows like \u201cHigh Potential\u201d prove a desire for more blue sky fare at the broadcasters \u2014 and they\u2019re taking that to heart. ABC is eager to grow \u201cR.J. Decker,\u201d and has the upcoming \u201cThe Rookie: North,\u201d Fox is about to unleash \u201cBaywatch,\u201d CBS has \u201cElsbeth\u201d and NBC is high on \u201cThe Rockford Files.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI think the last few years, people have been doing a bit more lighter, brighter shows,\u201d Katz said. \u00a0\u201cWhen you look at \u2018Rockford,\u2019 one of the things we liked about it was he\u2019s a little bit of an underdog and very fallible and human. I think people want television that\u2019s relatable and optimistic, things the world feels like it\u2019s lacking.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tExecutive Hellos and (Potential) Goodbyes:<\/strong> This upfront served as the debut for several entertainment executives in new leadership roles. At the highest possible level was Disney CEO Josh D\u2019Amaro, who took the stage at Disney\u2019s presentation following a welcome from \u201cDevil Wears Prada 2\u201d star Anne Hathaway. It was a big moment, as the CEO isn\u2019t often the one tasked with upfronts duty.<\/p>\n \n\tAnd though D\u2019Amaro seemed to have some jitters (he\u2019s much more used to the D23 crowd full of fanatic parks fans) his appearance surely went a long way in impressing potential ad buyers about his commitment to the TV division.<\/p>\n \n\tElsewhere, Peter Friedlander made his first-ever upfronts appearance speaking as the new head of scripted TV for Amazon MGM Studios\/Prime Video and showing off several splashy projects to come, like the \u201cFourth Wing\u201d TV series.<\/p>\n \n\tNoticeably missing from the week was Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who has previously been front and center at the WBD presentation but this year didn\u2019t go before an audience. Zaslav\u2019s on-stage absence comes as he\u2019s getting ready to part ways with the company, should the pending acquisition by Paramount Skydance go through.<\/p>\n \n\tHollywood\u2019s \u201cWill We, Won\u2019t We?\u201d Relationship with AI:<\/strong> AI has been the focal point of many a conversation in Hollywood recently, but the upfronts presented a noticeably mixed message on the subject. Some media companies barely mentioned it, like NBCU\u2019s Mark Marshall, who made only a passing mention of AI during his time onstage. Or Disney\u2019s Rita Ferro, who talked about the use of \u201cautomated systems\u201d but did not give a full-throated endorsement of the emerging technology.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Fox devoted more than five full minutes to AI alone during its hour-long presentation to advertisers, making it a central focus. Netflix seemed to walk the finest line, illustrating how it is making AI a part of the advertising business but keeping the remarks relatively short.<\/p>\n AI is not going anywhere anytime soon, and Hollywood is still figuring out where and how to integrate it into the filmmaking process. Based on what we saw at the upfronts, your guess on when that will be sorted out is as good as ours. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe Tech and TV Divide:<\/strong> While yes, as we mentioned earlier, programs are still part of the upfront pitch, but they are increasingly being served with a stream of tech-speak. Fox even had its chief technology officer address the assembled at its upfront presentation.<\/p>\n \n\tIt wasn\u2019t always this way. In a fondly remembered time, advertisers were more interested in the shows, eager to hitch their ads to big-audience programs like \u201cE.R.\u201d or \u201cSurvivor.\u201d Now, viewers for dramas, comedies and reality shows are harder to come by, because people now have the leeway to watch their favorites at any moment of their own choosing. That means viewership around such stuff is smaller, and the networks need to show that ads are reaching not the most people, but rather the most likely people to be interested in a bottle of soda, a specific kind of running shoe, or a new weight-loss drug.<\/p>\n \n\tDoing so on interactive streaming services isn\u2019t just a matter of marrying an ad with a specific show. Instead, advertisers are increasingly using programmatic technology that uses algorithms to align commercials with audiences tied to a specific geographic region or consumer preference. That means technology in many cases has more relevance than the actual content on the screen.<\/p>\n \n\tThis Year\u2019s Superlatives:<\/strong> Upfront MVP status went to Jane Krakowski, who performed a song-and-dance number (as her \u201c30 Rock\u201d character, Jenna Maroney) at the NBCU upfront, then ran across town to perform another razzle-dazzle with Jane Lynch at the Fox upfront. (Krakowski hosts \u201cCelebrity Name That Tune\u201d for the network.) Did either network know Krakowski was double dipping?<\/p>\n \n\tOther upfront frequent fliers included Tina Fey and Shaquille O\u2019Neal.<\/p>\n \n\tMeanwhile, there wasn\u2019t necessarily a \u201csong of the upfronts\u201d this year, but there was an entire music genre: Country showed up in a big way, especially at Amazon (where Kacey Musgraves and Shaboozey performed) and Netflix, where \u201cThe Hunting Wives\u201d honky-tonk bar Coyote Joe\u2019s was re-created for an onstage line dance performance.<\/p>\n \n\tCuddly canines made an appearance at both WBD (for Animal Planet\u2019s \u201cPuppy Bowl\u201d) and at Netflix, which just acquired streaming rights to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog show.<\/p>\n \n\tEasiest applause line this year? Declaring that you\u2019re shooting your show in Los Angeles. And this wasn\u2019t even an L.A. crowd \u2014 but enough Hollywood folks were in attendance to cheer on when it was mentioned how \u201cBaywatch\u201d filmed in Venice Beach and \u201cSunset P.I.\u201d was shooting in the city as well. \u201cIt feels nice whenever you can do production here,\u201d Dungey said.<\/p>\n \n\tHere are all of Variety\u2019s upfront presentation recaps:<\/p>\n \n\tInside NBCUniversal\u2019s Upfront: Vin Diesel Surprise, Tina Fey Sets Up NBC\u2019s 100th Birthday Bash and More at \u2018Most Glamorous Midmorning of the Year\u2019<\/p>\n \n\tInside Fox\u2019s Upfront: \u2018Baywatch,\u2019 Lachlan Murdoch, Lots of Tom Brady, and the World Cup Brings James Corden Back to Late Night<\/p>\n \n\tAmazon Upfront Brings Out Michael B. Jordan, Chris Pratt, Oprah Winfrey in Star-Studded Ad Sales Pitch<\/p>\n \n\tDisney\u2019s 2026 Upfront Goes All in on Savannah Bananas, Billie Jean King and \u2018American Horror Story\u2019<\/p>\n \n\tInside Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s Upfront: Execs Address \u2018Ellison in the Room\u2019 Before First Looks at \u2018Minecraft Movie 2,\u2019 \u2018Harry Potter\u2019<\/p>\n \n\tNetflix Upfronts: J-Lo and Brett Goldstein \u2018Get Closer,\u2019 Pete Davidson Goes Off-Prompter, Will Forte Hits an Off-Key \u2018Golden\u2019<\/p>\n \n\tYouTube Unveils Exclusive Shows From Alex Cooper, Trevor Noah, Kareem Rahma and More at Upfront<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Warner Bros. 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