Fox Changes Upfront Venue, Returns to Live Presentation

At Fox, they’ll do it live.

On Thursday, the company finally announced its upfront week plans, revealing it will have a live presentation on Monday, May 15, at The Manhattan Center, showcasing its portfolio of sports, entertainment, news and streaming.

The individual business units will also hold pre-upfront presentations highlighting their strengths and giving clients access to the company’s talent.

With Fox broadcasting a wildly successful Super Bowl 57 on Feb. 12, the first meeting kicked off in Arizona during Big Game weekend. It showcased a fireside chat featuring Gordon Ramsay from Fox’s Next Level Chef, actor Joel McHale from its new comedy Animal Control and several network executives including Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade.

“In a time of such complexity, strength, strategic focus and stability are the foundational elements that lead to success. Fox’s advantage is our ability to focus on what matters most—our advertising partners—and delivering for them, and our viewers, the best content across the industry’s leading sports, entertainment, news and streaming platforms,” Marianne Gambelli, president of Fox advertising sales, said in a statement.

“For this year’s upfront, we are hosting an in-person event—complete with a new venue and format—to connect with our clients in the most meaningful way.”

In addition to a change in venue for upfront week—the company held its previous presentation at the Skylight on Vesey—the announcement notably states the presentation will be an in-person event. It’s a significant change from 2022, where the company’s presentation consisted of mostly pre-recorded video with some live elements.

Gathering marketers at the Skylight for a pre-recorded presentation drew some backlash. And though Gambelli told Adweek the company felt strongly about a hybrid presentation, she noted that Fox would likely return to live events in the future.

“I assume that a year from now, we will all be back fully where we won’t have this threat always of another shutdown or another outbreak,” Gambelli said. “I’m actually surprised that that many people wanted to be in person together, to be honest with you.”

At the time, Gambelli also indicated the company would be looking for a change in venue.

“I think we need a bigger space than at Skylight. I don’t think that’s big enough,” Gambelli said. “But I would like to do something where we can actually host as well as do a presentation.”

Upfront schedule almost complete

With the news, Fox becomes one of the last major upfront week presenters to solidify its schedule.

NBCUniversal got things started late last year, announcing in December that it would return to Radio City Music Hall on May 15 for its annual presentation.

TelevisaUnivision and Disney also confirmed their respective Tuesday, May 16, presentations. And like Fox, both companies are moving into different venues, with TelevisaUnivision going to Pier 36 and Disney heading to the North Javits Center.

Warner Bros. Discovery will return to Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, May 17. And following Paramount exiting upfront week presentations in favor of smaller gatherings with clients, both Netflix and YouTube both jumped into Wednesday evening slots.

Notably, The CW’s upfront week plans still hang in the balance following NexStar’s 75% acquisition of the company in 2022.