Variety says midseason is new fall

Variety reported on May 14 that one of the clearest messages from this year’s upfront week was that “midseason is the new fall,” as media companies pitched advertisers on schedules that stretch well beyond September. The trade publication’s recap, based on presentations by NBCUniversal, Fox, Amazon, Disney, Warner Bros. (variety.com) Discovery, Netflix and YouTube in New York, said TV programming returned to the center of the sales week after several years in which broader corporate platforms often dominated the stage. The shift showed up in the schedules networks have already released for the 2026-27 season. Fox said its fall lineup would be light on scripted programming and hold new series including “Baywatch” for midseason, while ABC said it would expand its original scripted slate in midseason for a second straight year. (abc.com) NBC, which revived a traditional pilot season, used its upfront to emphasize a deeper scripted bench even as sports remains central to its lineup. ### Why did Variety say midseason has become the new fall? Variety said the old fall-launch model no longer described how major media companies are programming their schedules in 2026. In its upfront recap, the publication wrote that “midseason is the new fall” and paired that observation with examples of networks putting more weight on January and later launches instead of concentrating new scripted premieres in September. (variety.com) Fox offered one of the clearest examples on May 11. The company said its fall 2026 schedule would include no new shows and that new scripted entries such as “Baywatch” and “The Interrogator” would wait until at least winter. Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade said 90% of the slate is returning shows. (variety.com) ABC made a similar point on May 12 from the other direction. The network said it had renewed its entire scripted lineup and would increase its original scripted slate in midseason with the addition of “The Rookie: North.” ABC’s schedule announcement also came after industry coverage highlighted that “High Potential,” one of the network’s biggest scripted titles, was being held for midseason. (variety.com) ### If sports still matter, what changed in the pitch to advertisers? TheWrap reported on May 14 that sports remained a major force in the upfront market, especially after NBC’s February run with the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics and NBA All-Star Game. Deadline also wrote before the presentations that live sports had helped support scatter pricing because of their scarcity and unpredictability. (variety.com) Variety’s takeaway was narrower. The publication said live sports are no longer the only major draw for advertisers and described a week in which entertainment programming regained prominence in the presentations. Warner Bros. TV Group Chairman and CEO Channing Dungey told Variety that “good, old fashioned broadcast was back front and center.” (detpress.com) ### How did NBC frame its schedule without the Super Bowl and Olympics next year? NBC used this year’s ratings strength to make a case for its broader lineup. TheWrap said NBC won the broadcast season from CBS for the first time since 2007-08, helped by its February sports schedule. (thewrap.com) Jeff Bader, NBC’s president of program planning strategy, told TheWrap ahead of the company’s upfront that the network was “realistic” about next year because it will not have the Olympics or the Super Bowl. He said NBC was turning attention to the “entertainment side” as it introduced four new series from its revived pilot season. Lisa Katz, NBC’s scripted content chief, separately told Variety the company had made a “concerted effort” to invest in scripted and pilot production. (variety.com) ### What do the released schedules show across broadcast networks? CBS released its 2026-27 fall primetime lineup on April 15 and said it had 13 of the top 20 most-watched series. ABC announced its fall schedule on May 12. (thewrap.com) NBC and Fox unveiled their lineups on May 11 during upfront week. Those schedules point to a more staggered release pattern for entertainment programming. Fox is saving most new scripted titles for winter. ABC said it will add scripted originals in midseason. NBC is mixing returning anchors with new series developed through a pilot cycle. CBS, by contrast, is still leaning heavily on franchise continuity and established hits in the fall. (thewrap.com) ### Where does the ad market fit into this? Deadline reported that Media Dynamics estimated upfront spending at $17.8 billion last year, down from $18.4 billion a year earlier, even as digital advertising continued to grow. The same report said IAB expected the digital market to top $80 billion this year, and iSpot said 31% of 360 surveyed brand marketers planned to hold spending steady or increase it in the upfront. (paramountpressexpress.com) Those figures help explain why companies onstage in New York pitched a mix of live events, streaming scale and flexible release calendars rather than a single fall launch window. Variety’s recap of the week ran after presentations from NBCUniversal, Fox, Amazon, Disney, Warner Bros. (variety.com) Discovery, Netflix and YouTube, and those companies’ 2026-27 schedules will continue to fill in as midseason launch dates are set later in the year. (variety.com) (deadline.com)