As Networks and Streamers Head to the Upfronts, They Have Plenty to Tout — And Just As Many Needs

The networks may now take a backseat to larger conglomerate sales at the upfronts, but what they’re showing between ads — the actual programs — still matters. Of course, these days that mostly means live sports. Entertainment fare is facing reduced shelf space in primetime, and even the streamers are placing more of their attention on live events, which perhaps means less attention on good ol’ fashioned scripted programming.

Maybe that’s why it feels like there are fewer shows on the bubble or less cancellations at the broadcast networks — because there’s just a lot less shelf space than there used to be, and most of those timeslots are already accounted by hit franchises. (NBC and ABC, for example, devote as many as three full nights of a seven-night schedule in the mid-fall to live sports.) Still, broadcast did cultivate some new hits this season with freshman entries like CBS’ “Marshals,” ABC’s “Scrubs” redux and Fox’s “Best Medicine.”

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