Jeremy Johnston, investment director at PHD Canada, is among the media execs in New York this week to attend some of the U.S. Upfront presentations – and provide some thoughts for Media in Canada.

NBCUniversal kicked off the 2023 Upfront season, and for the second time in three years, the broadcast pilot season has been upended by an extraordinary event.

In 2020, it was a global pandemic. This year, it is a writer’s strike.

The work stoppage, which started May 2, did not impact pilots, which all had been completed before WGA’s contract with the studios expired. Though many actors have been sitting out of the Upfronts to show solidarity with striking writers (Amy Poehler, Bel-Air’s Carla Banks-Waddles, Mrs Davis’ Tara Hernandez and Poker Face’s Rian Johnson appeared in recorded interviews the company was clear to state were filmed before the strike began), NBC still paraded the likes of Mario Lopez, Willie Geist, Andrew Ross Sorkin on stage.

However, the strike is expected to affect pickup decisions as the networks are faced with the possibility that no newly ordered or renewed scripted series could go into production for months if the impasse between the writers guild and the studios does not get resolved quickly.

With the expectation that all broadcasters will be searching for ways to fill this content gap, NBCUniversal was first to lay out its plans. One way is leaning into Peacock. Through content agreements, they can draw from Canada, Europe, Australia and other locations to find quality content.

When Peacock was launched in 2020, it had a key differentiator that separated it from competitors: it would be proudly advertising-supported. Three years later, ads and ad-supported streaming is the new norm and Peacock is not as scaled as some of its streaming competitors. However, NBC still touted Peacock’s recent and future growth. The company is using it, in combination with its linear TV and digital platforms, to play in the larger video landscape to drive viewership. The platform is also finding new audiences in different places. Capitalizing on these audience will only grow as consumers and viewers look for quality content.

There are plenty of strike contingencies built into the schedule. This is in part as a result of NBC renewing shows early and keeping them in production ahead of the writers walking out. They are opening up a new fall comedy block on Tuesday nights and has pushed a couple of its drama series to midseason.

For the fall schedule, Jon Cryer’s new comedy Extended Family will run after Night Court, Quantum Leap moves to Tuesday night, while police drama Found with Shanola Hampton replaces Law & Order: Organized Crime on Dick Wolf’s second night in the fall. La Brea, with its shortened season, has also been pushed to midseason.

NBC ensured the audience and ad buyers that shows such as Night Court, Quantum Leap, Found, The Irrational and Extended Family will all be on the fall schedule even if there’s an extended strike “because they’re now in a continuous production model.”

The main objective for the company was to capitalize on a schedule that had tentpoles every night of the week, so it can be as stable as possible, and create a schedule where it has launchpads for shows that will be coming on in the fall. The Irrational, which stars Jesse L. Martin as a behavioral scientist helping to solve high-stakes cases, launches on Mondays after The Voice in the slot that Quantum Leap occupied last year, while Extended Family comes on after Night Court on Tuesdays.

No one was surprised that Wednesday night remains untouched with the One Chicago trio. However, Wolf’s other night at NBC has been shaken up slightly. Law & Order: Organized Crime moves to midseason and new drama Found moves into Thursday after Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU.

Finally, some great news for the value and quality of Canadian content reaching south of the boarder is that CTV-produced hospital drama Transplant will air its third and fourth seasons as part of NBC’s schedule this year. Hopefully this will not be the only Canadian produced show making news this week.