Companies rely on sports after Hollywood strike | Wilnesh News

Media giants relied on sports last year when they had to lure advertisers during the Upfronts conference week when strikes and cost cuts in Hollywood undermined their content and star power.

This year, although stars are taking to the stage again after the strike ends, the performances still tend to be more physical than scripted.

The hangover from last year’s pause in work means some media companies have fewer series and movies to highlight during presentations.Company cost cuts include disney and Warner Bros. Discovery Doesn’t help things.

Live sports continues to be the darling of Upfront conferences because it still attracts the largest audiences and therefore the largest advertising dollars.

“I think (these companies) benefited from the revenue side during the strike,” said Tom Rogers of Oorbit Gaming and Oorbit Gaming. “And I think there was a hesitancy to invest more because of trying to understand how content spend really drives returns.

He added: “There used to be an automatic way where you put out a certain number of shows for a new season and it was relatively formulaic and didn’t make a lot of sense to understand how the content drives profitability.”

He identified two key issues facing traditional media companies: the decline of traditional television and the increasing amount companies must pay to broadcast live sports events.

“By definition, if you’re going to maintain reduced levels of content spending, that means your entertainment programming has to be reduced,” Rogers said.

Disney aired trailers for its upcoming Disney+ series Agatha All the Way and Daredevil: Reborn , but its cable network FX only highlighted the hit series, which also air on Hulu The next season of Bears. The company also announced the launch of “The Bachelorette,” the next installment of the popular reality series on the ABC broadcast network.

Warner Bros. Discovery puts shows like “House of the Dragon” and “And Just Like That,” two spinoffs of HBO series, on top Important location.

“However, whether it’s sports or entertainment, strong content is only a small part of the equation,” said Amy Leifer, chief ad sales officer at DIRECTV Advertising. “With the explosion of (ad-supported streaming) Growing rapidly, the modern TV experience relies on both content and the advertising that supports it.”

Some movies have played a major role in Upfronts, especially since streaming services like NBCUniversal’s Peacock gained support It has recently been promoted by blockbusters such as “Oppenheimer”.

Much of NBCUniversal’s talk was dedicated to The upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris. The NFL played a role in all demos, including newcomers to the ad-supported streaming space, Netflix. It made perhaps the biggest sports splash during Upfronts Week, announcing a deal to broadcast NFL games on Christmas Day for the next three years just hours before the launch.

Amazon shows off Thursday Night Football, its second Black Friday game, and coming soon Wild Card Playoffs in January – This is the first game on Prime.

“This year, we’ve seen media giants place big bets on things like Wicked, the Olympics and sports superstars like Jason Kelce to create buzz,” said Tim Hurd, vice president of media activation at digital marketing agency Goodway Group. “Constant change ’s live sports landscape and leveraging college sports, NFL games and the Olympics as full-platform experiences. “

Kelce, who recently retired from the NFL after 13 years with the Philadelphia Eagles, appeared in Disney’s front office to announce that he will serve as a commentator for ESPN starting this season. His appearance made headlines — as he and brother Travis Kelce often do — when he met “Abbott Elementary” star and creator Quinta Brunson during the event.

—Sarah Whitten contributed to this article.

Revealed: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.