Give tremendous credit to the Interactive Advertising Bureau for assembling a variety of content from players big and wannabees, then mixing them with live self-produced segments and transmitting the whole kibosh so seamlessly. Whatever technical glitches popped up over last week, one here or there, they didn't last long.
Here's a selection of memorable bits from the virtual week that was…and here's to bringing back NewFronts live and operating around New York City in front of crowds who connect with each other in 2021.
Slogan Of The Week: "Generation Stream" (Hulu)
Host With The Most: Scott Rogowsky, in his first big gig since HQ Trivia's demise. Brought the right frame of mind each day—by a ringmaster that balances the quest for advertiser support with humor when called for. Example: "When you woke up this morning, did you think you'd see Lenny Kravitz riding on a horse?"
Co-Hosts With The Most: Cheddar anchorperson Nora Ali and Michelle Morrow from Under Pressure Productions. Excellent by-play with Rogowsky and held their own with the live interview segments.
Debut Of The Week: Multi-channel smart TV service Tubi, now under Fox Entertainment ownership. Fast-moving, stylish display, and the only major presenter to showcase a new Spanish-language project.
Comeback Of The Week:Crackle, after a few years of doing its own Upfront thing. Came through with a well-rounded presentation, featuring more than 200 hours of new series and specials for 2020-21. Personally, looking forward to The Operation, a clandestine thriller helped immensely by the return of Craig T. Nelson (Coach, Call To Glory, The District) to series TV.
Missed/Miscued Opportunities: 1) Facebook—A short video with nothing, absolutely nothing, about Facebook Watch and its variety of ad-supportable content, or Portal TV, their innovative smart TV product with video chat and augmented reality features getting a second win because of the coronavirus pandemic. 2) Ellen Digital Ventures—Much ado visually without much info about new series and when they'll debut. And no special message from Ellen DeGeneres herself? A huge letdown from last year's excellent event, with the best layout and variety of food at any NewFront space that week.
Turnoff Of The Week:TiVo's PowerPoint slide demo, complete with boring narration and unappealing on-screen graphics. Encyclopedia Britannica filmstrips I watched in grade school during the 1960s had far more energy.
Controversial Thought Of The Week: "Taking down statues is a good thing, but we can also build new monuments, and that's better." That from IAB chief executive officer Randall Rothenberg during the first NewFronts hour last Monday. With tremendous respect, condoning the takedown, destruction or defacing of statues, monuments, and landmarks on public property by people willy-nilly, without their historical facts straight, is NOT a good thing. If you let this go on, where does it stop? Put your focus on building those new monuments, period.
Wish You Were Here; Amazon, which earlier agreed to be part of NewFronts 2020—and somehow between the initial schedule release and last week, dropped out. This would have been a great stage to present IMDB. TV, their ad-supported programming service for smart TV sets/devices rumored to be making a big push into original series this fall. Also could have used the time to show off Food Network Kitchen, its groundbreaking interactive venture withDiscovery.
Top Celebrity Segment: Vevo's extended interview with Katy Perry
Keep Your Eye On…; 1) Whistle TV—Interesting mix of uplifting, empowering unscripted and scripted programs 2) 3Blackdot—Gaming and e-sports online and mobile content maker with two appealing TV series in development, toon Alpha Betas and remote-produced Party Chat.
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The opinions expressed here are the author's views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.com/MyersBizNet.