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Go Big, or Go to a Series of Intimate Dinners

Mike Shields

Maybe Paramount has the right idea.

There has been endless chatter over the past several decades about whether the TV industry still needs the Upfronts or not. That question once again came to light this past week, but not for the usual reasons.

Whether or not brands still need, or will always need, to buy TV advertising via a futures market - often through a short deal making window in the spring -  will likely be debated for some time. But in the near term, you have to wonder how long TV networks will insist on putting on these splashy and pricey dog and pony shows.

Not because they aren't well done, just that it's not a fair fight.

When you are trying to out-sizzle extremely deep pocketed tech companies, it has to feel like a bit of an uphill battle. There's a reason that Amazon and YouTube can put on Upfronts that 'dazzle' (as Variety put it), or showcase stars like Alicia Keys and Billie Eilish - they operate in a different economic time zone than the TV guys, who are contemplating mergers while digging out from debt, and barely even making that many TV shows.

I remember years ago seeing Alicia Keys play at an early morning Upfront - it was either MTV or Nickelodeon. Now neither have their own events - and it's not clear whether their parent company is going to be around this time next year.

In a few years, will we see the media companies that are left standing footing the bill to fill Radio City or the Javits Center?

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