Jon Lafayette

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USA Ends Upfront Season With a Blast

Upfront season ended with a bang as USA Network said thank you and farewell to weary buyers with a spectacular Grucci fireworks display over the East River. USA’s event was held in an out-of-the-way spot, Pier 36 on South Street, but because of the suddenly gorgeous weather, almost no one regretted the hike. Like last year, USA mainly let its talent do the talking, with the cast of... More

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A Wall Street View of the Upfronts

Along with media buyers, Wall Street analysts have been keeping their eyes on the network upfront presentations this week. Ultimately, upfronts are about ad revenue, and in a report this morning, John Janedis of UBS says “overall, we expect total broadcast dollars to decline 5%, with cable nets up in the mid-singles.” Todd Juenger of Sanford C. Bernstein offered a more... More

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Digital a Big Part of ABC’s Upfront Message

Jimmy Kimmel’s jokes about the advertising business might be the annual highlight of ABC’s upfront presentation, but the network takes its digital seriously. Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney-ABC Television Group, told advertisers and media buyers about the Watch ABC app, which will live-stream the network 24 hours a day, seven days a week to authenticated cable... More

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ESPN Wants to Stay on Top of Sports World

ESPN is the champion of the sports TV business and it’s not about to let new competitors or the government pull an upset. After an upfront presentation Tuesday morning in Times Square that showed off new programming to attract fans and create new opportunities for advertisers that left the audience hungering for Cheez-Its, ESPN president John Skipper held for on the state of the... More

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Upfronts: Shrimp, Vodka, Comedies and Dramas

Day one of Upfront Week featured two networks spending big on programming to impress advertisers and improve their fortunes next season. Ted Harbert, chairman of broadcasting at NBC, opened the network’s 11 a.m. event at Radio City Music Hall, with jokes about the end of a grueling upfront season for media buyers, who estimated had sat through 70 presentations. “That just has... More