Expanded Disney Portfolio Takes Center Stage at Upfront Experience

Kevin Mayer, chairman of direct-to-consumer and international at The Walt Disney Company, delivered the opening remarks at the group’s Upfront Experience in New York City yesterday, touting the power of the expanded advertising portfolio.

Disney’s first Upfront since closing the 21st Century Fox deal featured executives and personalities from ESPN, Freeform, FX Networks, ABC and National Geographic touting the performance of those brands and opportunities for advertisers.

“This marks the latest watershed event in what has been a very remarkable year for us,” Mayer said. “We completed the acquisition of 21st Century Fox in March, we unveiled Disney+ last month and this morning we announced an agreement with Comcast to assume full operational control of Hulu effective immediately and acquire Comcast’s equity stake in 2024. Among all of these developments, the power of the advertising portfolio that we have brought together might be the most exciting thing of all. You’re seeing the company’s first presentation of our full suite of ad-supported platforms in one unified event.”

Mayer noted that Bob Iger, chairman and CEO, led a restructure of the company last year “to reflect our new strategic priorities and to super-serve our consumers and advertising partners. As a key part of this, we brought together advertising sales, technology and content distribution within direct-to-consumer and international…We reimagined our ad-sales approach to give you, the advertisers, the most efficient and powerful platform possible. The changes we made allow us to sell the way you want to buy, with the best brands, enhanced technology and data tools across all platforms. In this era of unbelievable choice, brands matter more than ever. And we have the best: ABC Entertainment, ABC News, ESPN, FX, Freeform, Disney, National Geographic, and of course, now, Hulu. Taken together, these brands have an unmatched ability to connect deeply with audiences and we have the ability to create opportunities for you that can cut through the clutter and appeal directly to the consumers that you want to reach.”

Visit WorldScreen.com’s Fall Season Grid for all the details on the new and returning shows on the U.S. broadcast networks, and a listing of pickups by studio.