Fox Pitches Marketers in Pre-Recorded Upfront Presentation

Last year, Fox split its upfront presentations into three separate events. This year, the company moved to a new location—the Skylight on Vesey in New York—to tout its entertainment, streaming, sports and news offerings. Though the event was held in-person, the majority of the presentation was pre-recorded and shown on screens to the audience. “We are coming together in a completely different space in a totally new way. It's a hybrid experience and captured the reality of how we all live and work today,” said Marianne Gambelli, president of ad sales, marketing and brand partnerships, in the pre-recorded video. “But not everything has changed. In fact, some things are truer than ever. Fox has always forged its own path. And this is why, in today's rapidly changing and chaotic media landscape, Fox leads the way—we are laser-focused on delivering incredible content at massive scale to passionate diverse audiences everywhere.” Fox Sports is ready for fall The sports marketplace has never been stronger, according to Fox Sports ad sales chief Mark Evans. This year, the company has both the FIFA World Cup and Super Bowl 57, in addition to its standard slate of rights across properties like the NFL and UEFA. “Having my first upfront be in not only a World Cup year but a Super Bowl year, it couldn’t be a better opportunity to kick this thing off the right way,” Evans told Adweek ahead of the company’s Monday afternoon presentation. Fox Opts Against Setting Fall Schedule Ahead of Upfront, Adds New Gordon Ramsay Series The 2022 World Cup moved from the summer to the fall, which Evans views as a net positive for the ad sales marketplace. “Where I sit is extraordinarily active in a good way. It was the unknown of it moving [the World Cup] from the summer to the fourth quarter when there’s already so many sporting events,” he said. “What we found across the board from the marketing side, where we might have had a little bit of uncertainty, the marketing community has really leaned into it for multiple reasons.” Evans thinks the strength of Fox Sports’ existing broadcast slate will only further drive interest in the World Cup. “[Marketers] know that we're going to lean in with our promotion and inventory to promote the World Cup to those captive audiences in the NFL, in postseason baseball, in college football—and they're looking at that as a positive to bring potentially new eyeballs to the World Cup,” he said. “You're going to have your hardcore soccer fans that are going to follow the World Cup at any time, any zone, anywhere it is, anywhere in the world,” Evans added, noting that casual viewers and fans of other sports might tune into the World Cup after seeing it promoted. “From a client interest, where we are in that marketplace, it's really proved itself out with the amount of money that marketers are spending and the interest that we see in and around the World Cup,” he said. Tubi will also play a role in the World Cup this year, with the company launching a 24/7 World Cup FAST channel and also making every match available on-demand on the streamer. Sporting events continue to dominate the top 100 shows every year. “If you're looking to launch a movie, if you're looking to sell a car, if you're looking to launch a new product and aggregate and scale quickly, the only place to do it is in live sports,” said Evans. “Selfishly for us in particular, the sports that we represent, certainly in the fall, have the most reach, and we have the most touch points and, we feel, the best production value and the best presentation on air. All of those things align to why marketers should be spending the largest share of their upfront dollars with us.” According to Evans, the market is moving “earlier and earlier” every year, and 2022 is no exception. “I’m missing calls every 10 or 15 minutes from people trying to understand where the market’s going to fall and where we’re positioned,” he said. Evans pointed to the strength of Fox Sports’ fall slate, particularly around Thanksgiving. Programming highlights include an NFL matchup between the Giants and the Cowboys and a Black Friday World Cup game between the U.S. and England, which Evans thinks will be the highest-rated World Cup game domestically of all time. “Then follow that up with the best football rivalry in all of college football between Ohio State and Michigan that Saturday,” added Evans, also pointing to the NFL double-header that Sunday. “We're kicking off what’s the most important time for the marketing season and marketers with, quite frankly, an unmatched, unprecedented launch in multiple sports over a four-day span. That's kind of the anchor of what we're going to be building off of for the fall,” said Evans. Ad offerings include Fox Atlas, an intelligence platform that delivers optimal placement. The product will initially launch across Fox News Media with two products: Fox Navigator, focused on contextual alignment, and Fox Shield, focused on brand sustainability. Fox Net is the company’s suite of tools that allows for clients to use data and automation to deliver precision, drive impact and allow brands to enact addressable audience targeting cross-screen. One Fox is the company’s streaming ad offering across all its digital offerings. Content is king The company bucked tradition Monday morning by not announcing its fall schedule ahead of the afternoon’s upfront event, but did tell marketers that Season 2 of Next Level Chef landed its post-Super Bowl 57 time slot on Feb. 12, 2023. After losing the ratings crown of the coveted adults 18-49 demo to NBC, Fox spent a significant amount of the presentation highlighting its upcoming content slate. The network renewed 9-1-1 spinoff 9-1-1: Lone Star for Season 4 this morning, but during the company’s upfront presentation announced the renewal of the flagship 9-1-1 series as well as hit series The Resident, both for Season 6. The company also touted Fox News, with Fox claiming that more Republicans, Independents and “even Democrats” tune into Fox News over its competitors. “We don't just reach the audience. We connect with them. And this connection to our brand is one of a kind. It's the key to making the same connection with yours,” Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott said during the recorded presentation. On the streaming side, Tubi is doubling down on original content, making more than 100 originals next year, in partnership with groups like MarVista Entertainment and NBA player Kevin Garnett. “As advertisers, you get to connect with passionate fans of these libraries, and you get the opportunity to sponsor this incredible mission,” said Tubi's Farhad Massoudi during recorded remarks. Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier highlighted Fox’s long history of advertising, noting that Netflix and Disney “can’t afford to build their paywall without [advertisers’] money.” “Fox is 100% ad-supported, 100% committed to you and always has been, 100% of the time,” he said. The company gave first looks at upcoming courtroom drama series Accused, from the producers of Homeland and 24, and new drama Alert with Jamie Foxx. Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham (virtually) introduced the audience to the upcoming series Krapopolis from creator Dan Harmon. The audience also got a first look at Season 2 of Welcome to Flatch, introduced by Call Me Kat’s Mayim Bialik, and an introduction to new comedy Cindy Snow from the creator of The Flight Attendant. Audiences also saw a trailer from the upcoming drama Monarch, postponed from its planned mid-season debut last January, starring Trace Adkins and Susan Sarandon. The presentation ended with the first (and only) live remarks from Collier, who introduced an in-person Sarandon. "I was very grateful to be part of the legacy that Fox has, especially with musical-driven shows, and to be part of this legacy," she said, before introducing Adkins, who closed the presentation with a live performance of "A Country Boy Can Survive."

TV Upfronts

Fox Pitches Marketers on Content, Sports and Streaming in Pre-Recorded Upfront

The presentation highlighted the company's entertainment, sports and news offerings

Mollie Cahillane

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Mollie Cahillane