It’s been a buzzy week for the industry as broadcasters and streamers took to the stage for their annual upfront presentations, giving advertisers a first look at their upcoming content lineups.

Netflix hosted a first in-person upfront yesterday (2023’s was virtual) and announced that its ad-supported tier has reached 40 million monthly users worldwide—nearly doubling its January tally of 23 million. Advertising president Amy Reinhard also shared that Netflix will launch an in-house advertising technology platform by late 2025. 

Stranger Things and Wednesday (which are both returning with new seasons next year) were part of an interactive “Netflix Experience” that invited advertising clients and buyers to step into multiple rooms designed to replicate settings from the streamer’s most popular shows. Some have speculated that this fun execution could have been staged as a teaser for the Netflix Houses that are opening across the US in 2025.

In terms of new content, Netflix revealed that it’s adding a docuseries called Simone Biles: Rising to its increasingly sports-heavy slate—which includes Rez Ball, a coming-of-age film produced by LeBron James about Native American basketball players. 

Netflix is staging an interactive Upfront experience based on shows like Wednesday (as pictured here) for advertisers to engage with.

After rolling out ads on Prime Video in select territories earlier this year, fellow first-timer Amazon went big with its inaugural upfront presentation by announcing prequel series Elle, which explores the high school years of teen/YA comedy Legally Blonde‘s same-name lead character. With showrunner Laura Kittrell (High School), this project will be executive produced by Reese Witherspoon (who played Elle in the 2001 and 2003 movies) out of her Hello Sunshine studio.

Meanwhile, Disney’s presentation saw CEO Bob Iger grace the upfront stage for the first time since 1994. He took a moment to highlight a key stat from Nielsen’s new Media Distributor Gauge report showing that the Mouse House’s combined platforms accounted for 11.5% of all TV viewing in April. And later, actor Selena Gomez debuted the first look of a new sequel series called Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. Based on the successful Disney Channel comedy series that ran from 2007 to 2012, this new title scored a full greenlight in March after an initial pilot order. 

Under the leadership of development SVP Jenna Boyd, Disney Branded TV has been focused on bolstering its multi-cam sitcom pipeline. The strategy appears to be leaning on well-known franchises in the Disney treasure chest. Just yesterday, the division announced a pilot order for a Raven’s Home spinoff series called Alice in the Palace, under a new multiyear overall deal with actor Raven-Symoné. Raven’s Home—which is also a spinoff of ’00s Disney Channel sitcom That’s So Raven—ended its run after a sixth season wrapped up in September.

Another big series announcement came from Warner Bros. Discovery, which used its upfront to reveal a new Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking series that’s in the works. Ordered by the Food Network, this competition format featuring Harry Potter movie backdrops will center around chefs creating sweet treats inspired by the Wizarding World. Producing the series are Warner Horizon and theoldschool, and it’s set to roll out this holiday season on Food Network and Max (which has doubled its ad-supported tier subscribers since 2022).

Featured image: Actor Selena Gomez unveiling Wizards Beyond Waverly Place at Disney’s upfront on Tuesday. (Disney/Michael Le Brecht)