Upfront 08

I’m going to editorialize on this, so it’s a bit of a spoiler, but I think some networks did better than others, in terms of getting it, regarding this year’s upfront.

I understand that not every network has new shows to parade. And I understand that cost is a factor when setting up big presentations and lavish parties. But to tone down upfront week seems to me to be a huge strategic error, whatever the tactical payoff.

Everyone needs to stop thinking of it as a sales event. It’s more. It’s a sales and marketing event. And that marketing isn’t to advertisers. It’s to the general public, and the bloggers who care about TV, and the superfans who start those water cooler conversations that decide whether shows live or die.

Big upfront events create press, which creates excitement about TV. TV needs that right now.

I’m not saying anything that hasn’t been remarked on before, but it takes on added importance when the cultural relevance arrow for the TV industry is headed in the wrong direction. TV executives should be worried. And they should persuade corporate to be poundwise, rather than penny foolish.

-Greg Baumann