How Fox pitched news and Tubi at its seat-less 2023 upfront

Outside of the Fox upfront, held at the Hammerstein Ballroom late Monday afternoon, two sets of protesters were competing for advertisers’ attention: the Writers Guild of America protest continued from NBCUniversal’s presentation earlier that morning (albeit in a fraction of the numbers) and The Lincoln Project protested advertising on Fox News. The strike was mentioned once during the show, with executives assuring advertisers that they hope a resolution with the WGA is found soon, but the company has unscripted series locked and loaded for the fall. On a press call earlier in the day, the company revealed that none of its upcoming fall scripted primetime series were completed before the strike began. Its roster of animated series, however, were. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Inside, advertisers noticed a surprising lack of seating. While last year’s Fox upfront made attendees huff about its pre-recorded presentation, this year they were forced to stand. While a few booths lined the walls and some seating could be found in the balcony, president of advertising Marianne Gambelli joked it was “the first-ever standing room only Fox upfront,” and called out the short-lived upfront week slot held by Netflix: “We didn’t cancel, we didn’t move out of upfront week. We’re here for you.” Multiple media buyers complained about the lack of seating, reinforced by a restless crowd that increasingly ignored the show to talk amongst themselves. They also said the presentation, a bare-bones, montage-heavy rundown of stats and shows, was lackluster. Here’s a look at Fox’s pitch. Actor-less shows continue If day one of upfronts week is any indicator, advertisers won’t be wowed with star-studded events. For its part, Fox’s upfront was heavy on news and sports, with no representation of its entertainment properties. One standout was celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who appeared onstage multiple times. Media buyers told Ad Age it could be because he is non-union. “Thank you so much for the standing ovation,” said Ramsay when he first emerged onstage. “Oh shit, there’s no fucking chairs in here.” The show wrapped with a short appearance by sports superstars Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Michael Strahan and Rob Gronkowski, who tossed baseballs and footballs into the crowd. One media buyer, who identified as a big sports fan, said it was an “amazing finale to a bad show.” Upfronts and NewFronts blog Tracking the latest TV and digital ad pitches Read more here All in on AVOD The first asset Fox promoted in its upfront was its free, ad-supported streaming platform Tubi. While Fox leadership has previously been vocal about staying removed from the streaming wars, the company has seemingly realized the trends in cable viewership by giving Tubi its prime slot. “To add to Fox’s already powerful portfolio, we went all-in on AVOD,” Gambelli said, bragging the service has grown 44% year-over-year under the ownership of Fox. Recent news: See Tubi's satirical films about media buyers Gambelli used the streamer as a kickoff to another upfront week trend: fragmentation. The executive echoed similar words heard at NBCUniversal’s upfront earlier in the day: “In this fragmented world, we know it's getting harder and harder for you to reach your consumers. We understand the value of unifying our scale and creating custom solutions for your brands.” Thus Tubi’s proprietary advertising platform Adrise has been implemented as the fundamental tech for One Fox, the media company’s cross-portfolio sales stack that allows advertisers “to target the audiences that matter most using data and measurement providers that [advertisers] choose.” Krapopolis is still the headline Last year, Fox flaunted its new NFT-supported animated show “Krapopolis,” which allows audiences to participate in its creation via its crypto collectibles. The animated series was a headlining feature of its 2022 upfront alongside animated series “Grimsberg,” but neither of those series has yet to air. Fox expects they will this fall. Not a Tucker to be found Fox News presented to advertisers for the first time since Tucker Carlson departed the network. The cable news behemoth bragged it has “more anchors and reporters from outside the coasts” than any of its competitors, and it repeated its stat from previous years that more voters of all parties—including independents and Democrats—watch Fox News than any other cable news network. Fox News host Dana Perino helped present the cable news brand, and brought on a live feed of her co-hosts of Fox News’ “The Five.” Greg Gutfeld noted that he is the only late-night host still running, in reference to his competitors who have shuttered due to the writers’ strike. “Let’s get down to brass tacks,” said Gutfeld, host of “Gutfeld!” “I have the number one late-night show. I also have the only late-night show that’s going right now. So you don't have a choice in this matter, and I am for no choices.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs

How Fox pitched news and Tubi at its seat-less 2023 upfront

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