Disney’s Rita Ferro Explains Bob Iger’s Upfront Return, Bundles and Her Family Guy Debut

Between the pandemic years and the writers’ strike, the television industry has not seen a standard week of upfronts in nearly five years—a lifetime ago in the rapidly changing TV ecosystem. However, at upfront presentations across New York this week, ad industry executives felt relief at the return to normalcy—or something like it—for the annual marketing extravaganza.

At Disney’s Tuesday presentation from the North Javits Center, celebrity talent once again graced the stage, the production pipeline has been reenergized and nobody sat out sick. For the first time in years, the focus was solely on the substance, which Disney’s event had in spades.

Additionally, the company’s forthcoming bundle with Max—not to be confused with its forthcoming MVPD with WBD and Fox—has spurred intrigue across the industry. Along with new tie-ups from other streamers, the collaboration between former rivals has altered the television landscape and cast conversations around scale in a new light.

For ADWEEK’s annual post-upfront interviews, we’ve already chatted with NBCU’s Mark Marshall, Fox’s Jeff Collins and TelevisaUnivision’s Donna Speciale. Now our conversations continue with Disney’s global ads president, Rita Ferro.

Ferro spoke with ADWEEK about the backstory behind the 2024 upfront event, including why Bob Iger graced the stage and what compelled her to appear as a Family Guy character. Disney also exclusively confirmed to ADWEEK that the company is back in upfront week next year on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

ADWEEK: What were your main priorities this year in terms of what you wanted to communicate to media buyers at the Disney upfront?

Rita Ferro: The No. 1 thing we wanted to communicate was the scale, depth and breadth of our content and storytelling. We have scale in streaming and sports, which are the main marketplaces that are moving in this upfront. Also, we wanted to emphasize the fact that the connection that Disney has with its fans and its guests is unlike any other you’ll see this week. Our franchises, like Star Wars, Disney, Marvel and National Geographic, are just so different and ingrained in the lives of our fans.

So scale, sports and emotional investment, but we also wanted to communicate the innovative ad technology that we have brought to the table. Ultimately we know we are trying to convince marketers to spend money with us, and we want them to know that we have a technology stack that will enable them to do that with confidence and ease.

With the writers’ strike behind us, Disney was able to incorporate talent into the presentation this year. How did that affect your approach to the programming?

We start planning our upfront a year out—we’re already talking about next year—and the main thing we ask ourselves is: What do we want attendees to feel? In that regard, I think we hit it out of the park this year. Everyone we spoke to said it felt different, that it felt special. Everything from the venue to the check-in to where people sat and how they were entertained, from the afterparty to the food and the planned interactions with talent—we planned out every aspect of the experience and were very happy with the execution.

How’d you get the right mix of talent and content to keep everything seamless?

Historically, viewers have consumed content in thematic blocks—they watch sports, entertainment or family programming. That has changed. Now people switch back and forth between genres with regularity. We wanted our programming to reflect that, having natural handoffs between the different groups. For instance, we thought it made perfect sense to have Quinta Brunson help introduce Jason Kelce to the stage, given that she and her show have deep Philadelphia roots. Finally, we were so happy to have Jimmy Kimmel back after two years of delays. Everyone said it was his best standup in memory, which is a testament to his talent. It was amazing to have him and his energy back on stage.

Bob Iger presented this year for the first time in 30 years. Why?

Bob has attended almost every upfront, but, yes, this was the first time on stage in several decades. Frankly, he is just so passionate about the strategy that we have going forward, from what we are doing at ESPN to streaming more broadly. He said it best: We have an incredible relationship with our talent and storytellers.

All of the promises he made last year are coming into focus, and he wanted to thank our partners and our advertisers for their support. Sometimes I think he forgets how valuable of a figure he is to Disney itself, so we were happy to have him kick off the show.

Speaking of kicking off the show, you were introduced to the upfront stage this year by a sketch that saw you as an animated figure in the Family Guy universe. Where did that idea come from and what was that experience like?

Well we knew [Iger] was going to join us, and we knew key talent would want to introduce him, so we were trying to figure out how I would come out after that. We work with a lot of teams on this, and somebody suggested a Family Guy skit. I love the show, so I thought it was a great idea. I had met Rich Appel, a producer on the show, at the U.S. Open, and he made it so easy. He reassured me that voice acting would be more accessible, and it ended up being fun.

The hardest part was that they had to begin animating me about seven weeks ago, so I had to pick out my outfit almost two months ago so that my animated character matched my in-person appearance. I planned to wear a brooch on the left-hand side of my outfit, so the animation team had all these little details to get right, but they pulled it off perfectly. I loved how it looked, and as a bonus, my daughter thought the whole thing was pretty cool.

Have you had any early conversations or negotiations with marketers already? How are those going?

Upfront week is a week, but upfronts is really a season. Candidly, we begin having those conversations at CES. We ask our agency partners and clients what is important, what is their strategy and what is going to move the needle. With sports-heavy partners, we take extra pains to keep in constant conversation because that inventory is so valuable. Around this time of the year, though, those conversations do start to get more passionate. 

The dominant theme of the upfronts this year has been the prospect of the bundle. Disney has a forthcoming bundle that includes Disney+, Hulu and Max. How are buyers responding to that product?

The thinking behind the bundle with clients is effectively: How do we give them more opportunity to buy on the entertainment side? Disney+, Hulu and Max have complementary audiences and content, and the bundle is a way for us to give customers access to both on a bigger scale. We know, based on what we’ve seen with Hulu and Disney+, that these tie-ups drive more engagement and time spent. Ultimately, what’s good for consumers will be good for brands.

Will Disney be back at the upfronts next year? 

We have worked hard to get the format of our show into its best possible shape, and we think we got closer than ever to that this year. We understand the value of upfronts because it highlights why people spend the money they do with us and the value they get from starting their media strategies off with Disney. I can tell you that in all likelihood, we will be back next year.