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As Seen on TV
Each Spring in the United States, there is a rather extravagant meeting of Television and Advertising Agency executives in New York City. Aired on my major cable and broadcast networks, these events feature musical performances, clips from new shows and appearances from top network stars at some of the best venues in the city, all in the hopes of locking in the fall season’s advertising contracts.
In the rest of North America, the schedules vary, but the idea is the same. In Mexico, they happen in the Fall for the beginning of the following year, whereas in Canada, they take place in June after the networks have had a chance to buy Canadian rights to new U.S. series.
These presentations are specific to each network ownership group and have far reaching impacts not only on the broadcaster, but also the advertisers´rates and reach, as well as many other media formats. While your website or radio station may not be presenting or even invited to see what is going on at the upfronts, the budget that is spent on your particular medium will most definitely be affected. Just one example of the seriousness of these events is the controversy from earlier this year over ad rates between Carlos Slim (the worlds richest man) and two major Mexican TV corporations, Televisa and TV Azteca, which according to a Reuters article, potentially resulted in Slim’s enterprises not participating in the October 2010 upfront, leading to a dispute over rates and the pulling of $70-100 million in annual advertising dollars out of the advertising pool for these networks.
If you’re a U.S. advertiser, you certainly do not want to miss the 2011 upfronts. For a detailed look at such a presentation, check out the 2011 upfront plans for Univision, however for an overall schedule, you need not look any further, because here it is:
2011 upfronts schedule New York
