A mix of premium content and innovation was the recipe served to advertisers at Turner’s Upfront presentation at NYC’s Theater and Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. “When it comes to leading the transformation of this industry, engaging audiences across all platforms and reinvesting for success, Turner is delivering on all fronts,” said Turner president David Levy.
Among the announcements from the company whose portfolio includes TBS, TNT, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Great Big Story, HLN, CNN, truTV, Bleacher Report and Turner Sports:
TNT ordered new drama series Will, centered on a young William Shakespeare, and Civil, about a second civil war in the U.S. CNN greenlit Soundtrack: Songs That Made History (wt), The History of Comedy and The Nineties.
Adult Swim ordered a pilot from Rob Corddry (Children’s Hospital), while truTV is adding Jon Glaser Loves Gear, Greatest Ever and Lifescaping (working titles). TBS is launching scripted comedy Wrecked on Tuesday, June 14; mystery comedy Search Party and alien comedy People of Earth arrive later this year. Of TBS-renewed comedies Angie Tribeca and Detour, which will both air two 10-episode seasons in 2016, TNT and TBS president Kevin Reilly explained they “continue to screw around” with the traditional TV model.
Donna Speciale, president of Turner ad sales, noted the company is delivering on the promise made at last year’s Upfront event. “I stood in front of you and stated that Turner would help lead the transformation of our industry,” said Speciale. “Our vision has not changed. We are doing it. We have transformed to be a data-driven content creation and distribution company that puts the consumer first.” Other networks may be scrambling now to adapt to the new media landscape with moves like reducing ad load, but “we’ve had a vision and it’s been a straight path,” Speciale told Cynopsis. “We knew where we were heading.”
On the digital front, networks will be available to subscribers on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Google Chromecast; that rollout starts in June. And Team Coco Digital Studios will collaborate with brands to deliver social-first content.
The Upfront opened with Anderson Cooper moderating a debate between Conan O’Brien and Charles Barkley about the future of television (“I love standing next to Anderson because it’s the only time in my life I feel ethnic,” said O’Brien), but it was Billy Eichner’s (Billy on the Street) take on the subject that drew the biggest laugh. TV is not dead, shouted Eichner “It has about three years to live.” “You never know what you’re going to get with Billy Eichner,” laughed Speciale after the show, “but that’s what makes it fun.”
