Making money in the TV business is not as easy as it used to be. As a result, the glittering display cabinets that the network displays for advertisers are not as interesting as before.

TV's annual "early" has been a staple of the Madison Avenue calendar for decades. Ed Sullivan once said that starting with executives on at least one TV network, it was a "very big show" of top spending by GM, Coca-Cola and Apple, hoping to earn millions of dollars by the next show season. Attendees visited New York City regularly to dine with cold shellfish, free drinks, collect TV star signatures and meet with executives and media buyers of TV advertising sales from their current record agencies.

Now, this spectacle is definitely not very spectacular.

There were four days of competitions in the previous week, but recently it was narrowed to three days. Gone are the long-end party once backed by Fox, once attracted all the top media agency executives (Fox's current post-display celebrations aren't as ambitious and no longer open to the media. They've been attending its pre-stage media for years. Maybe Murdochs are tired of feeding them media?). The CW's last-day speech also went missing, when it was backed by CBS and the company once known as Time Warner. The current owner of the network, TV-Station giant Nexstar, is unlikely to spend a lot of bait while still struggling to profit from operations.

With the day of attracting ad dollars, all current industry players are competing against each other. Last year, Amazon took over a previously held Tuesday slot by Disney ESPN, and this year plans to talk to possible major video advertisers on Monday night, a slot used by Fox and NBCuniversal in recent years. Suddenly, the two companies once lost their grip within hours and used to hold dinners and meetings with clients in town.

As a result, NBC has shifted an event built around Telemundo, usually held Monday night to Tuesday, where it is likely to be compared to the parties that Disney normally hosts. Meanwhile, Disney held a news event Tuesday morning talking about ESPN, the fear of executives of Spanish-language giant TV shows will sneak away the pre-display journalists they would normally plan in similar time slots. Amazon’s event in lower Manhattan was later than expected in 2024, making a single spotlight heavier in the Midtown area.

Is the joy obvious?

It is easy to blame the current situation on the coronavirus pandemic. The big events were then seen as “super propagandists”, and these networks turned to virtual, streaming presentations, and advertisers and agents learned that they didn’t need to meet in person to complete the business. As more advertising revenues turn to streaming and digitization (the arena where TV networks dominate), the network appears to be weaker, especially when Amazon and Netflix join as part of the pre-calendar.

A major player has gotten out of the way. CBS once recruited some kind of early waistline from Carnegie Hall every year, and once recruited the WHO to focus on its prime time schedule. Today, the network's parent company Paramount Global is eager to sell itself to its new owner. CBS has never pre-owned Carnegie Hall since 2022.

The company's current head of advertising sales does not regret it. Paramount advertising president John Halley said traditional pre-speaking has become “what we just heard isn’t a great user experience.” He said the incidents were "exaggerated" and did not allow for exchange of ideas between the media and advertisers. Instead, Paramount hosted nine different dinners for specific agents and advertisers, including guests who might include Drew Barrymore, Jon Stewart, Tony Romo and Jeremy Renner.

“It’s crucial to be able to hear their needs from our customers,” said Harley. “It’s critical and can’t be replicated in large shows.”

For advertisers who want to ensure that they exist in programming on limited, blink and your shelves, up-front markets are still important. That's sports, the "SNL" anniversary special, news shows, awards ceremony, maybe a limited series with episodes released only once a week. Most of the other content can be consumed or consumed during the audience's leisure time.

The modern reality is that advertisers are often on the market year-round, not just May. They know that if they need inventory, they may be able to steal something with programmatic techniques, allowing them to buy impressions defined by specific demographics or use new era systems that send commercial use of dog food to one family, and cat food to another.

With this dynamic acting, the early importance is less important than before, although holding them still seems to be in use. These showcases bring together the industry and its sponsors for a week and generate promotions. Nevertheless, it is clear that their utility is declining and the cost is still high.

No one will stop doing upfront outreach until advertisers at Procter & Gamble and McDonald say they buy ads this way. Until then, all parties will continue. But some "crazy" who attend the show may find themselves getting more angry.