Chernin: Fox Keeping The Upfront
News Corp. COO Says Upfronts “Valuable” for Advertisers, Network
By Mike Farrell -- Multichannel News, 2/4/2008 1:55:00 PM
Breaking with NBC Universal chairman Jeff Zucker’s assertion at the National Association of Television Programming Executives conference last month that the upfronts are dead, News Corp. chief operating officer Peter Chernin told analysts and reporters Monday that his company believes the annual dog and pony show for advertisers still holds merit.
“You’re not going to see Fox abandon the upfront,” Chernin said on a conferen
ce call with analysts and reporters to discuss News Corp.’s fiscal second-quarter results. “We believe the upfront is a valuable platform to interact with our advertisers and from a marketer point of view, it’s a good opportunity for them to plan their spending in advance for the year. We think it’s a valuable part of the process for both sides.”
Chernin was responding to questions by analysts regarding what impact the Writers Guild of America strike was having on the media giant. While the upfronts may stay intact, Chernin said that News Corp. may develop fewer television pilots, something that the media giant was investigating before the writers’ strike.
“We were moving toward probably making fewer pilots and trying to get some waste out of the system before the strike,” Chernin said. “We will continue to look at that.”
Chernin, who is one of the lead negotiators for the producers in the ongoing talks, did not address reports that the strike was nearing an end -- he said the parties were under a news blackout. But he said discussions have been positive.
“I am optimistic that we will get to some resolution,” Chernin said.
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