Jenny Croswell, EVP, head of investment and agency operations, and Matt Bailey, VP of media investment and activation, at Horizon Media Canada are among the media execs in New York this week to attend some of the U.S. Upfront presentations – and provide some of their thoughts for Media in Canada.
The Warner Bros. Discovery presentation took place at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday morning. Jon Steinlauf, chief of US advertising sales, kicked off the presentation with the most direct acknowledgment of the week so far, saying the company would only have executives on stage, instead of a parade of stars, out of respect for talent and the WGA. The WGA was referenced again later in the presentation when JB Perrette, president and CEO of Discovery Streaming, stated he hoped a fair contract would be reached.
Max – the renamed HBO Max, now with Discovery content – was definitely the focus of the presentation with the catchy tagline “Dream Bold Here” being reiterated throughout. Sports and news (CNN), food and WBD’s roster of entertainment channels were also heavily featured. However, unlike earlier presentations most of the jokes actually landed, and we found ourselves laughing out loud a few times – most notably when the clip of Conan O’Brien’s new show Conan O’Brien Must Go was featured. It’s a travel show where O’Brien journeys around the globe to visit friends he’s met on his podcast.
More executives were paraded on stage to cover news and sports, and this was interspersed once again with surprisingly humorous clips featuring the likes of Anderson Cooper, Kaitlan Collins, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley.
Before wrapping the sports portion of the presentation, reference was made to the fact that MLB ratings are up 47% this year due to the rule changes that have sped up the game and the “real” Stanley Cup trophy that was sitting stage left – and not to make its way to Canada this year. Sorry folks.
Premiering after the Stanley Cup on TNT is a new program called The Lazarus Project, a drama about a secret organization that can turn back time in an attempt to prevent catastrophic events. The show has already been greenlit for season two prior to its season one premiere in June.
WBD touted 4000 hours of original programming across its television and streaming assets. This includes Ellen DeGeneres’ first project coming to Discovery Channel which is all about saving the gorillas in Rwanda and will launch on World Gorilla Day. Other announcements included two new programs hosted by Selena Gomez airing on Food Network and the 35th anniversary of Shark Week, which will be hosted by Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa. A reboot of the reality show The Joe Schmo Show was also announced for 2024, where everyone apart from one poor Joe Schmo is an actor.
The presentation ended with an announcement that the Sex in the City spinoff And Just Like That will return for season two and at least one person in the audience was excited to see Carrie Bradshaw and her Sex in the City clique on the big screen.
Some of the additional new programming includes The Idol, a drama series created by The Weeknd and starring Lily-Rose Depp. The program focuses on a pop idol and her complex relationship with a self-help guru. Lost Women of Highway 20 stars Octavia Spencer in a drama that explores a true story about the crimes that took place on Highway 20 between the 70s and 90s.
Others on the list are relationship shows 90 Day Fiancé, Last Resort, Love & Marriage Detroit, Love & Translation, and Match Made Abroad. Downey’s Dream Cars is a program about restoring classic cars in the most environmentally friendly way possible and stars Robert Downey Jr. Barbie’s Dream House Challenge hosted by Ashley Graham is a real home that’s made over to look like Barbie’s dreamhouse, and a “lucky” winner gets an opportunity to live in the home. It looks like what you would expect – an indecent amount of pink.
Returning programs include Euphoria, Curb Your Enthusiasm, White Lotus, Hacks and Winning Time.
