PHD at the US Upfronts

Each year the television season is kicked off with the US upfronts in New York City. Canadian agencies and broadcasters send representatives to attend the US Networks presentations. I was lucky enough to represent PHD.

The presentations were scaled down this year – not as much hype as the previous years. However we all still managed to enjoy the week and come back with some advance knowledge of what to expect this fall.

The effects of the writer’s strike were evident, there were less new series ready to launch - 17 were introduced for the fall versus 24 from last year.

• NBC had twelve new offerings, four ready to go. Among them was Knight Rider, a spin-off from the original series. The pilot was the made-for-TV movie that aired this spring. The better than anticipated audience delivery for the movie made it an obvious pick for a new series. An agreement was made prior to the US upfront by CanWest to pick up NBC’s new properties.
• ABC showed us a list of 17 new titles that are in development, but only two are ready for the fall.
• CW also had a handful of shows ready, including a 90210 spin-off, which generated a lot of excitement during the presentation. A recent announcement of guest appearances by Jenny Garth and Tory Spelling is sure to hold up interest from the older set as well as attract the younger audiences that will discover the franchise for the first time. (Already picked up by Canwest in Canada).
• CBS has five new fall shows in the queue, and the exciting part of the presentation – they actually had some clips of shows in progress for mid season (A given in previous years). Introduced for fall are two new comedies – Worst Week and Project Gary. Worst Week being my favorite. It’s about an editor who will do anything to please his girlfriend’s parents, often ending up in compromised situations. Based on a successful UK series.
• Fox introduced two new fall shows and five for the mid season. The network also announced ‘Remote Free TV”. Fringe and Dollhouse, two of their new sci-fi dramas will air with only five commercial minutes in each episode. Shorter pod breaks and less commercial clutter. The network hopes that advertisers will embrace this new business model. I can only assume, to make this venture affordable, there will be a premium to run in these properties with sponsorship and product placement a plenty. Will Canadian broadcasters pick them up and if so will they choose to air them in the same format?

Clearly, the bigger season for new programming will be spring ‘09. Writers will have had more time for plot and character development. Hopefully we’ll see less cancelled shows and greater continuity with existing programming.

Stay tuned!