2022 Upfront Week's Most Biting Onstage Potshots

Upfront week has officially wrapped, with (most) companies making compelling pitches to advertisers. While the primary focus was wooing marketers in the hopes of getting more ad dollars during this year's negotiations, most media companies who presented this week couldn’t resist sneaking in some jabs—and a few body blows—at their competitors. From targeting mergers to failed streaming services, here’s how the upfront week presenters (other than Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, who stayed on their best behavior) went after their rivals onstage this week. 'We're not ... the latest messy merger' “You can trust us because, Comcast NBCUniversal, we're not just some new Philly startup or adolescent ad-tech company or the latest messy merger,” ad sales chief Linda Yaccarino told marketers during Monday morning’s presentation. “The bottom line is we don't just have the best programming and the best platform. Unlike our competitors, we run it as one business, we manage it as one business, we program it as one business … As you guys all know, we sell it as one business,” said CEO Jeff Shell. “And speaking of selling, we've been committed to the ad-supported video business since literally the first moments of our company's history. This is not an extension of our core business or a pivot. It is our core business." Jimmy Kimmel’s Funniest, Most Blistering 2022 Upfront Jokes Jimmy Fallon added to NBCU's digs, poking at Warner Bros. Discovery's short-lived CNN+. "I'll only be here for a minute or two, or as it’s known in our industry, a CNN+. Yes, CNN pulled off the impossible: They created a service that made Quibi look good. I'm not here to make fun of CNN+, because today's presentation is only scheduled for a couple of hours, and I would need far more time than that,” said Fallon. 'Without you, we would just be Netflix' "Fox is doing things differently. We are not chasing subscribers. We are creating opportunities for you, our partners. This is why we are proudly ad-supported,” ad sales chief Marianne Gambelli said during Monday afternoon’s pre-recorded presentation. Meanwhile, Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier went after Netflix and Disney+, who both recently announced new ad-supported tiers to their respective services. "Recent headlines say advertising's back; I didn't know it had left! It's how Netflix and Disney are coming, and what that means is that they can't afford to build their paywall without your money,” said Collier. Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks also targeted the world’s biggest streaming service. "So from everyone at Fox Sports, I want to say thank you. We know that without you, we would just be Netflix. We absolutely love selling pizzas and trucks and phones and insurance. We take so much pride when we see all of you having such great success,” he said. 'We didn't need to turn to streaming to save a struggling TV business' TelevisaUnivision is bullish on its linear strategy, and made that known during Tuesday morning’s presentation. “Here's one thing I bet you won't hear all week: Our linear business is on fire,” said ad sales chief Donna Speciale. “Our networks are up 7% across our portfolio. Univision alone is up 18%; everyone else is flat or declining. We are where all the linear impressions are going, so we didn't need to turn to streaming to save a struggling TV business.” 'How about those fuckers at Fox yesterday?' Disney executives didn’t target any of the other companies, but they didn’t need to. Jimmy Kimmel did the job for them, as part of his upfront roast, an annual tradition that has taken place since 2003. “I’m live right now about three miles away from a place where people don’t care about Covid—Fox. How about those fuckers at Fox yesterday? After two years of telling everyone Covid is a hoax, they trick you into taking an Uber to watch a tape,” said Kimmel, who tested positive for Covid-19 the morning of Disney's Tuesday presentation. “NBC had a long winter and we fucking loved every minute of it. NBC said goodbye to their megahit drama This Is Us, a show that dared to ask the question, ‘Can a Lifetime movie be six years long?’ The only thing sadder than the finale of This Is Us were the ratings for the Winter Olympics. NBC paid almost $8 billion for what turned out to be the lowest-rated Olympics of all time.” “NBC only picked up one new drama, and it's a reboot of the 59th most popular show of 1990. Quantum Leap, they’re rebooting Quantum Leap. That isn't a fall schedule. Those are the tapes you find in your dead uncle's VCR,” Kimmel added. Netflix wasn’t safe either from Kimmel's barbs. “Every year I say ‘fuck Netflix,’ and this year it came true. Netflix lost subscribers for the first time ever. Things are really tough over there; they had layoffs today. I hear they might not even be able to get Emily back from Paris … It sucks, though I have to admit, after those smug bastards choked the life out of us for years, it feels really good to see them stoop to selling advertising. Having to call you scumbags, take you for drinks, kiss your ass.” An 'actual fall schedule' At The CW on Thursday, ad sales chief Rob Tuck didn’t name names, but did say the company would keep things simple this upfront by “only talking about one network.” The CW CEO and chairman Mark Pedowitz took a jab at other broadcast networks for not actually highlighting their fall schedules at their upfront presentations. (One broadcaster, Fox, didn't even release a schedule this week.) The only other schedule marketers saw onstage was at Paramount’s presentation Wednesday. In highlighting The CW’s content, Pedowitz referred to his network's "seven-night actual fall schedule."

TV Upfronts

2022 Upfront Week's Most Biting Onstage Potshots

NBCUniversal, Fox, Univision, Disney and The CW taunted rivals during their respective events

‘We’re not … the latest messy merger’

Mollie Cahillane

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Mollie Cahillane