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NEW YORK — For decades, that week in May every year, TV executives have revealed which new shows are coming and which old ones will air, illustrating the influence ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox have on pop culture.
The past week has provided more evidence that this is dwindling, amid confusion about the future of Hollywood’s writers’ strike.
The scheduling week, known as the “upfront,” has long been a star-studded newsmaking event as networks look for multimillion-dollar advertising commitments.
Johnny Carson announced the end of his late night run on NBC. Convinced of its popularity, ABC showed advertisers the entire “Modern Family” pilot for a year (the same tactic didn’t work when NBC piloted “Joey”). CBS uses Who to reward advertisers at private concerts at Carnegie Hall.
This year, stars are staying home, reluctant to cross the picket line of striking writers outside Manhattan venues. That means no Jimmy Kimmel, whose annual routine strung his own industry was always to be expected. He’s been doing it since 2002, taking a few years off due to the pandemic and his son’s illness.
Instead, the networks try to galvanize advertisers with sports and news stars. Michael Strahan tossed an autographed ball to the crowd at a Fox event with Rob Gronkowski, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, and raved with “Good Morning America” host George Stephanopoulos at an ABC event.
“There hasn’t been a lot of excitement about the advances this year because of the writers’ strike and everything,” said Alan Volker, co-founder of media consultancy TV(R)EV.
TV’s biggest mystery is when viewers will be able to see new ones on TV.
Networks has tried different strategies to deal with the uncertainty created by the strike. Typically, TV shows start preparing for new fall episodes in about a month, but there have been no contract negotiations since Writers Guild of America members went on strike on May 2.
CBS and NBC are releasing their fall schedules as usual because they know a shift is possible.
“It created some buzz, it created some hope,” Volker said.
However, Fox didn’t bother to announce a timeline. An ABC executive privately said it would be a “miracle” if the strike was resolved in time for business to continue as usual, and the network released a fall schedule that relies almost entirely on improv. Reruns of the popular comedy “Abbott Elementary” were the only exception.
NBC has an entire season of “Discovery,” a new missing persons drama starring Shanora Hampton, already filmed ahead of schedule and set to premiere Thursdays in the fall, with “Quantum Leap” taped Some new episodes of .
But few new or returning radio shows do. For example, if the strike continues into the summer, look for CBS offering extended versions of shows like “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race” and “Big Brother,” as well as prime-time game shows like “The Price Is Right” or “Let’s Make a Game.” Deals,” as well as reruns of scripted shows from previous years.
“I haven’t forgotten that as the strike progresses, all eyes are on improv,” said Allison Wallach, Fox’s president of improv. Fox has two new game shows, hosted by Jamie Foxx and David Spade.
Across the network, executives delayed deciding whether to reject pilots of several proposed new shows or order full seasons, calls typically made before May. The future of some current shows — such as NBC’s “American Auto,” “Grand Crew” and “Young Rock” — also hangs in the balance.
One executive said that if the strike lasted through the summer, the idea of new shows airing during traditional TV seasons would be in jeopardy.
Some in the television industry see ABC’s fall schedule as a sign of things to come for the broadcast network.
As TV viewers and media conglomerates increasingly turn their attention to streaming services, the future of broadcast television may lie in schedules that consist primarily of live sports, live games (like “The Bachelor”), game shows or news programming.
An ABC executive pushed back against that notion, saying scripted series will last forever, noting that one of the network’s big moves this spring was bringing back the show “9-1-1,” which was canceled by Fox.
Still, it’s hard not to miss the growing amount of time spent in pre-demos promoting new shows being made for streaming services Peacock and Disney+.
Perhaps the biggest development of the early weeks has nothing to do with the broadcast network at all. This is Netflix’s virtual presentation, for the first time. Netflix never had to sell their product to advertisers before, but now they do because it now offers low-cost subscriptions that include ads.
Since the option launched last fall, more than a quarter of new subscribers have chosen it, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said.
“People love Netflix,” Peters said, “and that’s why we believe advertisers will love Netflix too.”
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