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As WGA picketers and anti-Fox protesters crowded the entrance of the company’s upfront presentation Monday afternoon at New York’s Manhattan Center, the show went on as scheduled.
Without any mention of the events occurring outside the venue, the 50-minute presentation heavily focused on Fox’s unscripted and sports content—as the company returned to a live format for the first time since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Instead of leading with its upcoming primetime slate, announced earlier in the day, Fox kicked off the presentation with FAST service Tubi—which exited NewFronts week in order to play a larger role in its parent company’s upfront pitch.
“We went all in on AVOD and invested in Tubi,” said ad sales chief Marianne Gambelli, who noted that the streamer—which now has 64 million monthly active users—has seen 44% year-over-year growth, and is now represented in Nielsen’s streaming report The Gauge.
“We didn’t cancel, we didn’t move out of upfront week, we’re here for you,” Gambelli added, taking a few shots at rivals like Netflix and Paramount.
Entertainment took a smaller stage presence than usual in this year’s upfront presentation thanks to the strike, but the company still touted its two new drama series Doc and HI-Surf with sizzle reels—even though neither series is in production yet. Fox has delayed the release of its full fall schedule until there’s more clarity with the ongoing strike.
“This part of the show has changed quite a bit, but don’t worry, I do not have a new show on Fox this fall,” said Suzanne Sullivan, evp of ad sales at Fox Entertainment, referring to the lack of scripted talent onstage. As is the case at most upfront week events, they declined to participate in solidarity with the striking writers.
Fox also has two new unscripted series on the way, and the company said it’s well-positioned for an ongoing writers strike with its unscripted slate.
