Upfronts 2013: 'Modern Family' Takes Manhattan

By Paige Albiniak
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

Complete Coverage: Upfronts 2013

Twentieth Television and the cast of ABC's hit sitcom, Modern
Family, feted advertisers in Manhattan on Monday night as Twentieth kicked
off ad sales for the show, which is heading into broadcast and cable
syndication this fall.

Joe Oulvey, Twentieth's head of ad sales, introduced the
show's creator and co-executive producer, Steve Levitan. Part of Oulvey's pitch
to advertisers centers on Modern Family's appeal to the entire family,
with three generations and different kinds of families represented.

Addressing the crowd, Levitan encouraged advertisers to come
up and chat and even solicited ideas: "Since we're at 96 episodes already,
if you have any story ideas, I would love to hear them!" Levitan said.

Braving a spring snow storm, Modern Family cast
members Ed O'Neill, Julie Bowen, Sofia Vergara, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler
Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, and Sarah Hyland came out to mix and mingle at
Gary's Loft in Midtown.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.