The 8 Biggest Takeaways From TV Press Tour

Lesley Goldberg
·6 min read
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Does the Television Critics Association’s semi-annual press tour still hold value?

That topic was a frequent debate at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena, California, where the TCA winter press tour wrapped Thursday after two weeks and a dizzying number of panels featuring stars, producers and the occasional executive.

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TCA can still bring out the big stars (Apple had Michael Douglas, Hulu delivered Jon Bon Jovi, and Annette Bening and Snoop Dogg were highlights at NBCU) but the real value — aside from showcasing programming to a shrinking press corps that has been overwhelmed by Peak TV — comes from executive sessions that can help lay out a platform strategy that many will cover for months on end.

Before we get into the biggest takeaways from TCA, allow us to make an appeal to Netflix, Amazon, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global to return to press tour. Yes, we know it’s expensive to stop production and bring talent (and their glam teams) to TCA, but please, take a page from Paula Kerger’s PBS playbook and return to tour with an exec session at the very least. The industry is changing faster than ever and that insight is, as you’ll see below, the most valuable (at least to this reporter, anyway).

Apple’s Global Push 

The streamer, which opened TCA on Feb. 5, rolled out tons of stars — Michael Douglas (Franklin), Laura Dern and Carol Burnett (Palm Royale) and Maya Rudolph (Loot) — but the winner of their day before press was their global strategy. In addition to the British comedy The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin (co-produced with ITV), the streamer has Eugene Levy returning for season two of the globe-trotting unscripted series The Reluctant Traveler, Eva Longoria filming both English and Spanish takes of the dramedy The Land of Women and the Paris-set period fashion drama The New Look. At a time when streamers continue to spend big on local-language originals in a bid to woo subscribers from all over the world, Apple is using its massive war chest to make both U.S.-produced shows that appeal to TV lovers everywhere as well as local originals.

To Look Forward, AMC Is Looking Back

The basic cable network is leaning on its past in its pitch for the future as it prepares to bring Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira back into The Walking Dead franchise and Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul grad Giancarlo Esposito’s third show for the network (Parish) as well as The Braxtons, which arrives at AMC sibling WE tv following a public sparring with Tamar Braxton. McDermott also seemingly took a swipe at Netflix as he knows he can’t compete with the streamer’s massive scale: “Some in our industry are trying to offer something for everyone,” said AMC Studios president of entertainment Dan McDermott at the top of the afternoon. “Across our brands, we’re trying to do one thing and do it very well.”

Nostalgia Plays Well

The most purely entertaining panels were soaked in nostalgia as Jon Bon Jovi and Brat Packer Andrew McCarthy did away with whatever talking points they were given and instead delivered heartfelt and often amusing stories that make their respective upcoming Hulu documentaries (Thank You, Goodnight and Brats, respectively) a must for viewers of a certain age. Meanwhile, Snoop Dogg added a blast of humor to an Olympics panel that was part of an NBCUniversal day that also included Annette Bening and execs behind Couple to Throuple and a Syfy show.

Quality Over Quantity for NatGeo

National Geographic Global Networks president Courteney Monroe stressed a “quality over quantity” strategy to her programming slate, which includes James Cameron, Chris Hemsworth and an Oscar-nominated documentary feature. While scripted anthology Genius received the panel treatment a week after its premiere, the show marks an end — at least for now — of the 136-year-old brand being in scripted space.

“Adios, Peak TV”

FX CEO John Landgraf, the guy who coined the term Peak TV to reflect the proliferation of scripted originals, ripped the bandage off and revealed that the total volume of U.S. originals dropped a staggering 14 percent from 2022, with 516 shows vs. 600 a year prior. Calling the industry’s contraction a “realignment,” Landgraf would only predict volume to continue to tumble in 2024 as he warned no end was in sight. “As most companies realize, quantity doesn’t lend itself to quality. But this retrenchment will have little impact at FX,” he said. The exec, who marks his 20th year at FX in 2024, also declined to crown Netflix the winner of the streaming wars and urged Hollywood to not make the same mistake twice by continuing to feed the streaming giant.

Disney’s News Dump

In an era when many skipped TCA, Disney trotted out execs including Landgraf, Monroe, Hulu and ABC’s Craig Erwich, Disney Branded TV’s Ayo Davis and Onyx’s Tara Duncan as part of three days of panels that covered everything but the two brands the press corps desperately wanted to see (Marvel, Lucasfilm). Erwich though came armed with tons of news — Abbott Elementary and Goosebumps renewals, Golden Bachelorette, an Emmy date and unscripted pickups, among others — as well as a point to make about how Disney’s ecosystem works. Not bad for a Saturday morning.

Bachelor Producers Fumble a Diversity Rose

For a franchise that has been plagued by questions about its diversity for more than a decade, not one but three exec producers of the Warner Bros.-produced ABC franchise froze when asked about its shoddy track record. Jason Ehrlich, Claire Freeland (both newcomers) and franchise veteran Bennett Graebner, who all without a doubt had media training for this very question, could not bother to mutter a single word when asked about why former stars Rachel Lindsay and Matt James were both critical about how the franchise talks about race. Here, we’ll do it for you for the next time anyone thinks it’s a good idea to trot you out before press: “We take the feedback seriously and are doing everything in our power to ensure our shows reflect society and that everyone employed, both on screen and behind the camera, feels seen and heard.”

The CW Is Focused Profits

Entertainment president Brad Schwartz and network president Dennis Miller (no, not that one) faced the TCA firing squad for the first time since canceling north of 10 scripted shows, many of them beloved by the TCA membership. Pressed about The CW’s ties to the Saudis with LIV Golf and newly announced “Copaganda” programming, Schwartz and Miller didn’t care about the controversy if it means the network can eke out a profit for the first time in its history.

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