Marianne Gambelli: Last News

Fox Corp. ad sales chief Marianne Gambelli is retiring, and the company has named Fox News vet Jeff Collins as her replacement.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor In an era when gargantuan media conglomerates hope to tempt advertisers into buying tons of commercials across many networks, streaming outlets and digital sites, Marianne Gambelli has come to appreciate the art of staying small. The executive, president of ad sales for Fox Corp., says in an interview that she believes the company will stand apart in the TV industry’s looming “upfront” sales session by not pressing potential sponsors to snap up commercial inventory in multiple venues. Want to buy an ad in a Fox Sunday NFL broadcast without having to load up on commercial avails at Tubi? Gambelli says staffers are willing to accomodate.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fox is getting ready to put on a new show for advertisers. After scaling back its upfront presentation in 2022, Fox Corporation will return the event to its usual wide-consumption format, moving the event to New York’s Manhattan Center on Monday, May 15. The company intends to focus attention on its broader portfolio of assets that includes Fox Sports, the Fox broadcasting network, Fox News Media and the Tubi streaming hub. “In a time of such complexity, strength, strategic focus and stability are the foundational elements that lead to success. Fox’s advantage is our ability to focus on what matters most — our advertising partners — and delivering for them, and our viewers, the best content across the industry’s leading sports, entertainment, news and streaming platforms,” said Marianne Gambelli, president of advertising sales at Fox, in a prepared statement. “For this year’s Upfront, we are hosting an in-person event — complete with a new venue and format — to connect with our clients in the most meaningful way, by showcasing the value of FOX’s best-in-class portfolio and its ability to innovate and engage with a wide array of consumers.”

In today’s traditional doubleheader opening of the upfronts in New York, Fox and NBCUniversal execs took digs at the “paywall” strategy of Netflix and Disney, in the first of many salvos expected this week.

It’s an upfronts miracle — Fox and 20th Television have closed Season 6 renewals of 9-1-1 and The Resident for the 2022-23 season. I hear the negotiations were completed shortly before the Fox upfront presentation’s 4 PM EDT start so the two venerable dramas could be included in the network’s pitch to advertisers. (The two shows, both in their fifth seasons, were featured briefly in the presentation’s opening montage but the previously renewed 9-1-1: Lone Star was mentioned in the opening remarks by Fox head of sales Marianne Gambelli.)

More than two years into its run at Fox Corp., Tubi is ramping up in original programming, planning 100 new film and TV titles over the next year as viewership continues to rise.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox is shaking up the way it talks to Madison Avenue.After years of highlighting sports programming and primetime options on its flagship broadcast network, Fox Corporation plans to abandon its longtime roost at New York’s Beacon Theater during the industry’s annual May week of upfront presentations and start putting a bigger spotlight on ad-tech, streaming and its broader portfolio of media properties. The shift takes place as many traditional purveyors of TV make changes in their business to accommodate a growing interest by consumers in on-demand streaming and new demands from prominent sponsors to align commercial messages with the viewing patterns of narrower groups of potential customers.

Fox has slated two in-person upfront events this spring — one in LA in March, the other in its usual mid-May berth in New York — as the industry looks to emerge from the long shadow of Covid.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorMark Evans will take over sports ad sales for Fox Corp.

By Brian Steinberg