Azteca America’s Upfront event Tuesday at NYC’s Gramercy Park Hotel was an elegant affair, celebrating ratings growth (41 percent up among A18-49 and 44 percent among A18-34 in 2015), and new series including adventure reality show Desafio, crossword-style game show Ahora Caigo and drama Rabia, about an outbreak of rabies. “Azteca America enters this upfront season on the heels of delivering its best March ratings in five years across all key demos in primetime,” said president and CEO Manual Abud. “We have made good on all of last year’s promises and our ‘Game On!’ theme underscores our proven counter-programming strategy.”

The network also announced Azteca GlassWorks Studio, an in-house digital content provider devoted specifically to creating multiplatform “stories” for advertisers, and revealed it is incorporating Real-Time Participatory Media technology into its programming, to engage viewers as well as collect data-driven insights into viewer behavior.

But it wasn’t just about the party. “This season, Azteca has taken its upfront into key markets a month early, to jumpstart the conversation with clients and agencies about their needs for 2016-2017,” Craig Geller, EVP of network sales & digital, tells Cynopsis. “Through this new, more consultative approach, we are finding two things. First, the demand for audience, more importantly the Hispanic audience, has never been more robust; and second, connecting to this audience through contextually relevant content is becoming even more important to clients and agencies.”

What are the Upfront prospects? “We’re seeing healthy marketplace growth, and combined with Azteca’s exceptional audience growth, we see great opportunities for Azteca at upfront this year, especially in a market where some of the major players are experiencing audience erosion,” says Geller. “As we continue to innovate our on-screen and cross-screen offerings, we’re becoming an even better partner for our current clients and the new additions entering the market.”April 14

April 14: TV One

“Defy expectations” is the mantra at TV One, said network president Brad Siegel at Thursday’s Upfront breakfast at the Helen Mills Event Space. Launched in 2004 and available in 57 million households, TV One’s strategy is to deliver on its brand promise to REPRESENT, with programming that show the best of Black culture and entertainment.

“By expanding our programming genres and archetypes that represent the black community, we offer advertisers the opportunity to be seen in an environment that is both positive and unique,” said Siegel, who announced a 26-movie slate and plans to air an original movie each week for 14 straight weeks during summer 2017. “TV One provides both tent pole programming and continuity,” said Siegel.

New programming includes a dive into the network’s first scripted drama, “a logical and necessary next step,” said D’Angela Proctor, SVP, original programming and production. “In the curation of drama projects, we are hyper-focused on story first and provocative characters in a culturally relevant and non-derivative world.We are committed to making sure that the project will be a must see, can’t wait, buzz, and chatter-worthy drama.”

New reality series include Sneaker Pawn, about a 17-year-old’s footwear business, and Family Bond, focused on a family-owned bail bonding company.Hidden camera The Dating Game (dubbed a “mix of The People’s Couch and Love Connection”) drew appreciative laughs from advertisers. And true crime lovers will be able to get their fix with newcomers #Murder, For My Woman, Thou Shalt Not and Evidence of Innocence (related note: the breakfast pizzas were to die for).

April 21: IFC

Programming details announced at IFC’s Upfront press lunch lived up to the net’s “Always On, Slightly Off” tag. Season two of Documentary Now! will include seven new episodes, including “The Bunker,” spoofing 1993 political doc The War Room, and “Globesman,” the story of a quartet of door-to-door bible salesmen. Producer and new dad Seth Meyers was on hand, interrupting lunch table talk about babies to express appreciation for IFC’s support.

Two recently greenlit series were in the spotlight, thanks in part to appearances by Brockmire’s Hank Azaria and John C. McGinley (Scrubs), star of Stan Against Evil, at the event. Brockmire, set to premiere in early 2017, focuses on a major league baseball announcer trying to rebuild his life after a public meltdown. Stan, arriving in late 2016, follows a demon-fighting duo. Coming back are Portlandia for a seventh season, Maron for season four on May 4, and Comedy Bang! Bang! for a fifth run on June 3.

Among shows in development are Todd Barth Can Help You, from co-creators Bryan Cranston and Steven Weber, starring Weber as an insurance adjuster-turned-wannabe-self-help guru; Canterbury Tales, centered on the 1970s punk rock scene; film noir-inspired comedy Detective Lady, and How to Rig an Election, based on the book of the same name.

IFC also announced late night block Comedy Crib, an online hub for short-form comedy that will start in the fall, and the net has partnered with four comedy festivals that will feature the brand in over 25 cities. “IFC’s commitment to comedy is going coast to coast,” said Blake Callaway, EVP, Marketing and digital media. “These festival partnerships will allow us the opportunity to support some great comics, highlight our own programming line up and bring along advertising partners for on the ground sponsorships.”

So how are Upfront meetings going so far? “We’ve had a great response from advertisers,” net president and GM Jen Caserta told Cynopsis. “We’ve become a destination for talent, and advertisers understand what we have to offer  they get the benefit of partnering with shows that are more distinctive.”

April 21: MTV

At its Upfront presentation at NYC’s Skylight at Moynihan Station, MTV unveiled a programming slate of 14 new series and specials, including the fall debut of LA-based Wonderland, the network’s first weekly live music performance series in nearly 20 years. Among those the network is partnering with on new content are Mark Burnett, Zac Efron, Drew Barrymore, Pitbull, John Legend, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia.
 
Among other series getting the green light are Sweet/Vicious, a dark dramedy about odd couple vigilantes avenging sexual assault victims on a college campus; The Outsiders (wt), a docu-series following families living on the fringes of society; and Acting Out, a new format in which stand-up routines are reenacted. Also, Mary + Jane, a comedy about enterprising weed dealers navigating LA hipster culture; docu-series Shinesty, and MTV’s The Investigation (wt), a reality series in which Ryan Ferguson, who spent 10 years wrongly imprisoned, digs into cases of the wrongfully convicted.

Efron will exec produce and host a docu special about the ever-expanding role of food and the culinary arts in millennial culture. Burnett is developing comedic reality half-hour First World Problems (wt), and rapper Pitbull will executive produce Miami-based drama 305 (wt). MTV also announced the MTV Music Video Awards will air Sunday, August 28, live from NYC’s Madison Garden for the first time.