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US upfronts turned into super spreader events

“What a historic room to be able to tell people you got Covid in," Seth Meyers told US media buyers. He was right.

We’re edging closer to planning time for 2023 Upfronts (at lease internally for networks) but yet to learn if they will return as in person events.

But in the USA, where COVID cases are higher (100,000+ per day), the latest network Upfronts has led to stories of a superspreader event.

Deadline reports Seth Meyers was only half joking when he told the thousands who had packed Radio City Music Hall for NBCUniversal’s presentation, “What a historic room to be able to tell people you got Covid in.”

Ten days later, Covid cases are sweeping through the ranks of those who attended the marathon of events in New York last week. Top-level executives at virtually all of the major networks and studios have been impacted, along with support staff that worked on the presentations as well as media buyers and reporters who attended the string of events.

The first in-person upfronts in three years turning into a superspreader event is not entirely surprising given the confluence of the festivities’ unfortunate timing amid a surge in New York and not-very-strict Covid protocols as businesses across the country have been lifting restrictions. The majority of attendees did not wear masks most of the time, and, while we hear some executives underwent daily testing as part of their own companies’ guidelines, none of the non-affiliated guests was required to take a Covid test throughout the week. (Vax cards were mandated at all venues.)

The NBCUniversal upfront at Radio City Music Hall and FOX’s event at Skylight on Monday were largely mask-free affairs, as was the Disney event at Basketball City where the majority attendees were huddled together on bleachers at the back, behind the key execs and top advertisers who were sitting on sofas and tables near the front.

Warner Bros. Discovery held its event at Madison Square Garden but it wasn’t until Paramount Global’s bash at Carnegie Hall later that day that attendees were made by those permitting entry to put on their masks and then were reminded to keep the masks on throughout the event.

The CW, similarly, required those in attendance to wear masks during their upfront at the New York City Center.

And then there were the parties.

The recent Screen Forever event at the Gold Coast led to many cases while the industry will also be attending the Logie Awards in mid June, but in a much larger venue than previously, and presumably with another outdoor red carpet.

4 Responses

  1. It’s insane there is more Covid everywhere now than in the beginning yet no one is caring and the public are not wearing masks. Well I certainly still am.

  2. Australia’s per capita infection rates were higher than the US before the school holidays. We have no suppression measures in effect either, but do have higher vaccination rates. ATAGI has only just extended 4th shots for vulnerable people and the NSW government plan to deal with the collapse of the hospital and paramedic systems they are planning to have chemists treat seriously ill people.

  3. USA doesn’t have more covid cases that Australia when you factor population. Australian covid cases per capita are about 5-6x what they are in the states and top 5 in the world. Perhaps local networks can learn from this

  4. Same here….politicians binning masks and everything else…pretending it is over….nooo…it has gone through the roof…hospitals are bursting…I shudder everytime I see huge crowds massed together….I dont know the answers 🙄

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