☀️Upfronts Send 😳 Message to Scripted TV On Day 1
APPLE sets Law, Garfield series / SKYDANCE's big buy / ESPN D2C details set / FOX's scripted-lite fall
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on TUESDAY; May 13, 2025.
Where I gotta think AMAZON missed a key branding opportunity last night at its 4-floor NY PUBLIC LIBRARY Upfronts party by not having one room with a stream of the KNICKS game on ESPN, with huge signs next to the TV reminding ad buyers “This Will Be On AMAZON PRIME VIDEO In 6 Months!” surrounding the screen.
But, having to refresh my phone constantly for score updates was certainly a good dexterity challenge while eating free food and grooving to Lizzo.
Kinda wild that the KNICKS are one win away from their first NBA Conference Finals in 25 years — although counting out the CELTICS at any point until a final buzzer is a fool’s errand. As was paying $700+ a seat for the Saturday game where the KNICKS got blown out.
ALTHOUGH: If the KNICKS 2026 playoff games are on ESPN — you can pony up $30 a month for the new ESPN app (Flagship, it’s been real . . . go hang with SPINCO at the bar). Or pay $36 for a DIS+/HULU/ESPN bundle (with ads) . . . or $7 less than the VENU price.
AND: If you sign up at launch (date still TBA), you can get that bundle for $30 a month for the first year (i.e. HULU and DIS+ are free, in a sense).
ESPN+ will still exist for $11 a month because DISNEY is not throwing away approx. $1.9B in annual revenue just because the dual product situation is confusing to customers. 🙄
YO!: Welcome to Jersey, NETFLIX! Enjoy your official groundbreaking ceremony today on the new huge soundstage complex about 10 minutes from my homebase when I’m on the shore. I’ll bring over the good sauce soon. 🍝
SO: The new season of The Bear will hit HULU on June 25 in binge fashion as always (Alien: Earth premieres Aug. 12, but in linear TV weekly fashion).
PLUS: The Cannes Film Fest starts today, but “Nudity is prohibited on the red carpet, as well as in any other area of the festival” this year. Great, now they tell us. 🙄 Anyone know if assless chaps are returnable if the tag is still on them? Sundance wardrobes don’t have these problems!
THEN: Some NFL matchups for the fall, before the league drops the full schedule tomorrow:
NBC season opener (Thurs., Sept. 4): COWBOYS vs. EAGLES
AMAZON Black Friday game: BEARS vs. EAGLES
AMAZON Christmas game: BRONCOS vs. CHIEFS
AND: Look at AMC THEATRES heeding the calls from folks at CINEMACON to shake up ticket pricing policies! Welcome to half-off Wednesdays, starting July 9.
OH: Several industry trade and labor orgs sent a new letter to Trump, essentially asking for tax breaks (and nothing to do with tariffs). No mention of a plane donation to go with it (don’t we at least have a set from Air Force One lying around somewhere?) — so continue shooting abroad accordingly, everyone.
ALSO: If you’re curious how exactly air traffic controllers get trained (must be under 31, and go to Oklahoma City, among other caveats) — Bloomberg had a good overview about why the situation is so dire, and not an easy fix.
AH: Everyone’s favorite new Upfronts talent Jamie Lee Curtis got creative in trying to find a way to get META to pull down a fake AI ad on its platforms featuring the actress, as the existing “methods” of doing so were doing . . . nothing. 😱 META took down the ad a couple of hours later.
PLUS: Rushfield and I made our picks for the top 3 U.S. summer pics at the box office, potential sleepers and underperformers here in our new weekly live-chat series.
AND: A look at the Thunderbolts* week 2 results and if there was a missed opportunity here by Hollywood in the 2nd weekend of May.
UPFRONTS DAY 1
Rather than just a laundry list of news items from Upfront presentations — I’m gonna take a similar approach to the Upfronts that I did for CINEMACON, and walk through what stood out most from each one that I attended while mixing in said laundry list.
So, up first are NBCU and AMAZON — and if you wonder why I write so much about sports deals in a “Hollywood” newsletter . . . Madison Avenue is telling you why this week.
Although — ya gotta love Trump unintentionally (somewhat) giving the studios a hand with the timing of his essentially folding on the China tariff policy this weekend. However, I don’t think “quick” will be the nature of Upfront buying this year, no matter what.
So, let’s kick things off with NBCU, and then onto AMAZON, which had a couple of key common themes between the two that Hollywood creatives should definitely note.
Although only event one had an Arnold Schwarzenegger appearance that won’t be topped all week — more on that too.