Inside Paramount's 'High-Impact, Intimate' Upfront Dinners

Paramount surprised the TV industry late last year when it announced it'd skip its decades-long upfront week event at Carnegie Hall. In place of the event, ad sales chief John Halley said the company would host a series of "high-impact, intimate gatherings" in April for its major agency partners and clients. Now, Paramount's upfront dinners are finally upon us, and the company gave Adweek an exclusive look inside. Paramount Ad Sales Chief John Halley on Upfront Changes, the Reorg and What’s Next For the events, which are taking place over two weeks at the end of April, the company transformed Chelsea Factory in New York to showcase its “Popular is Paramount" brand positioning. Launched in March, the "Popular is Paramount" trade campaign focuses on the company’s ability to create popular content across its portfolio of brands and multiplatform assets. Upon arrival, the company noted that guests would see the building's façade capturing Paramount's branding before entering an immersive exhibit space featuring iconic awards, props and costumes from across the company's portfolio. Video screens will also showcase the memorabilia in action. Costumes from Star Trek, the Lombardi Trophy and more on display. Among the artifacts, guests can see The Price is Right Wheel, BET Awards, Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards (KCAs), GRAMMY Awards and Tony Awards. And the company even has the NFL's Lombardi Trophy on display, as CBS will broadcast the Super Bowl in 2024. Attendees can also see Kevin Costner's saddle and lasso from Yellowstone and Tom Cruise's helmet and bomber jacket from Top Gun: Maverick. In one display, the company showcases costumes featuring Star Trek through the years, with the characters Jean-Luc Picard, Christopher Pike and Michael Burnham all represented. Star Trek costumes through the years. In addition to the immersive displays showcasing Paramount's IP, the company also noted the night would feature some of its talent as well as musical entertainment. As opposed to a one-off show in New York, the company will also bring the conversations to agency partners and clients in Chicago and Los Angeles in the weeks to come. Overall, Paramount noted that the advantage of its model, as opposed to a big, lavish show during May's usual advertising event, is its ability to discuss the media business through in-depth conversations with clients and partners. The events also give the company a greater share of voice ahead of an increasingly crowded upfront week. John Dutton/Kevin Costner's saddle and lasso. Halley echoed the point of having a greater share of voice to Adweek in March. Following Paramount officially exiting its usual Wednesday evening timeslot during upfront week, both YouTube and Netflix jumped into Wednesday evening with presentations of their own. “I’m pretty sure that would have happened to us if we’d stayed there,” Halley said, reflecting on the YouTube and Netflix events. “For us, this is about being able to spend quality time in an expanded format and having a more in-depth discussion." Though Paramount was the only major publisher to announce it was leaving traditional upfront week presentations last year, The CW has since followed the company's lead. Earlier this week, the network announced it would exit its usual Thursday morning upfront presentation, instead holding a press event to announce its fall lineup. Of course, time will tell how attendees respond to the immersive "Popular is Paramount" experience and if the trend of moving away from upfront week becomes more popular as well.

TV Upfronts

Inside Paramount's 'High-Impact, Intimate' Upfront Dinners

The company announced it'd skip its decades-long event at Carnegie Hall last year

Bill Bradley

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Bill Bradley