14 ballroom. Also unprecedented was the presence of 58 journalists. Among the indies there were several Korean companies grouped under the KOCCA banner. And studios such as Disney, NBCUniversal, Lionsgate, Fox, and Amazon MGM also exhibited at the Roosevelt. As early as 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 15, distributors exhibiting in suites and at meeting tables in the Academy ballroom had backto-back meetings with buyers — mostly from Latin America. The main challenge was keeping the time of the scheduled meetings since one of the two hotel elevators was out of service, causing delays. The problem was later alleviated by opening up the emergency exit doors to the hotel stairs. Rich Oken, the Roosevelt’s general manager, was pleased with the L.A. Screenings crowd and promised that the elevator problem would be solved next year, that more restaurants on premises will be open, and that he’ll even try to get the lights in the open spaces to be brighter after attendees complained that the hotel was poorly lit. Public parking was conveniently located across from the Roosevelt’s entrance (at considerable savings for non-hotel guests). All in all, most exhibitors were pleasantly surprised to see their meeting schedules fill up in the last few weeks prior to the event, especially since LatAm buyers have reportedly reduced their content purchases since the beginning of the year, a decline that has been particularly felt by Turkish distributors. In terms of new content for the 2025-2026 U.S. TV broadcast season, the studios could preview only a few new series since most of the pick-ups were straight-to series orders. There were also many renewals. Under the theme “The Power of Windowing,” Sunday’s Paramount Global screenings filled its theater, where it screened a full episode of NCIS: Tony & Ziva. Just before breaking for lunch, Paramount’s Dan Cohen sat on the stage with (the already picked-up) Boston Blue star Donnie Wahlberg (who’s also the new CBS series’ executive producer). NBCUniversal also had a big crowd at its Monday screenings, where it previewed the pilot of the new comedy series The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, and at lunch, VideoAge met with Michael Bonner, who attended the L.A. Screenings for the first time as NBCUniversal’s president of Global TV Distribution. Wednesday, the last day of the studios’ screenings, was reserved by Disney, which took on the theme “L.A. Strong,” and whose Latin buying contingent took over the Frank G. Wells Theater on the Disney studio lot (while other territories’ acquisition contingents took the Main Theater), and among the new shows screened was Amanda, a Hulu limited series about American Amanda Knox’s conviction for murder in Italy. Among the studios’ parties attended by VideoAge, both Disney on Saturday and Fox on Sunday managed to attract large crowds. Disney featured the new theatrical movie Lilo & Stitch before its party on the Disney studio lot. Monday, May 19 was also “Deal Day,” when Canadian buyers bid for the new U.S. shows, which they started screening on May 6 in order to prepare for their own Upfront presentations to their advertisers. This year, only Bell Media and Corus were in Los Angeles, while Rogers was summoned at the broadcast standards hearings overseen by the Canadian regulator CRTC. Bell and Corus went the following week. As for the U.S. TV Upfronts, the uncertainty caused by President Trump’s tariffs is expected to further reduce the advertising revenue of U.S. broadcast TV stations. This is the prediction for the TV broadcast Upfront market that started in New York City a week before the L.A. Screenings in Hollywood. Television could be negatively affected due to the fact that its largest advertisers are among the sectors hit hardest by the tariffs. The Wall Street Journal reported that advanced TV spending could fall 20.5 percent this year to $13.9 billion, compared to last year. However, if the Upfront market slows down, but the U.S. economy rebounds later on, the scatter market (the TV inventory not committed during the Upfront market) could pick up. Another bright outlook is going to be sports programming, which is expected to make up for the lost advertising predicted from other programming. Overall, total TV advertising spending for 2025 is expected to reach $61 billion across traditional and digital television (down from the $64 billion invested as early as 2019), with the exclusion of political advertising. Overall, total U.S. TV advertising spending for 2025 is expected to reach $61 billion across traditional and digital television, with the exclusion of political advertising. (Continued from Page 12) VIDEOAGE June 2025 L.A. Screenings 2025
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