CBS Entertainment said it named Jon Koa as executive VP, comedy development.

Koa, who had been senior VP, scripted television for Condé Nast Entertainment, will oversee all comedy development for CBS Entertainment’s primetime programming and report to Kelly Kahl, president, CBS Entertainment, and Thom Sherman, executive VP, programming.

Julie Pernworth, who held the comedy development post, announced she was leaving late last month. 

“Jon is a tremendously experienced television executive with an obvious passion for the development process,” said Kahl. “His reputation among his peers and the creative community is impeccable and he will be an extraordinary addition to the CBS team.”

“It was imperative we find just the right individual to lead our comedy team. Jon has tremendous creative chops and a keen eye for spotting writing that resonates. I look forward to working closely with him,” Sherman added.

Before joining Condé Nast in 2015, Koa was executive director, comedy programming and development, for the ABC Television Network. He began his career in 2006 in the drama development department at Universal Television, working on House, Parenthood, Monk and Battlestar Galactica.

It’s a mark of how much has changed with the NewFronts, the tech-savvy younger sibling of the traditional TV’s Upfronts, that so many of the new shows on display across four days of presentations last week are headed to the biggest screens out there. 

Not just any big screens, of course. We’re talking connected TVs, highly capable internet devices that millions of owners seemingly rediscovered during months of lockdowns, and used heavily to access not just a charging phalanx of glitzy new SVOD services, but all kinds of other video offerings, too. 

Now, all the digital companies that once used the NewFronts as a long-shot grab for attention from advertisers still focused on traditional broadcast and cable TV are increasingly making original programs that advertisers may actually support, in formats they mostly recognize. 

Big screens are back, even among the online companies long focused on browsers and mobile devices. That even includes traditional print publishers such as Meredith, Condé Nast and Penske Media, text-first platforms such as Twitter, and hardware makers such as Vizio and Roku. 

"We own the hardware, the operating system, and the data flowing through our system. We believe that's a big advantage," said Vizio Chief Revenue Officer Mike O’Donnell, pointing to the TV maker’s SmartCast operating system, automatic-content-recognition capabilities, Inscape data division, and 12 million users.

It says something that hardware makers—at least those like Vizio and Roku that control which networks get on their platforms and also run their own AVOD channels—are now at the NewFronts. It’s another example of the event’s changing face, in step with what’s happening across the TV business.

But it wasn’t just hardware companies making big presentations. Condé Nast—home to iconic print magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker—pitched itself as a growing video powerhouse, with 50 new series tied to its various franchises, atop 75 shows it already creates for an array of outlets. 

For some companies, the shift to Connected TVs has been even more dramatic. Jesse Judelman, who heads sales in the Americas for Vevo, told me recently his company's revenue growth recently went from 4% before the pandemic to more than 50% since.  

And YouTube, a minority partner in Vevo, has seen its overall viewership overtake even long-time champ Netflix, according to one recent study its executives touted multiple times during NewFronts. More importantly for YouTube’s NewFronts pitch, only two of the five companies that serve up 80% of internet video traffic are ad-supported, and Hulu is a lot smaller. 

YouTube’s connected TV viewership leapt to 120 million viewers last year, said Google VP and General Manager Tara Walpert Levy during a Day 2 panel. That’s a shift for an old-school digital-media power long associated with viewers on computers, tablets and mobile phones. 

"All the ways we do marketing really found their feet last year," Walpert Levy said.

Companies such as NBCUniversal are working both sides of the increasingly blurry line between Upfront World and NewFront Land, presenting at both and partnering with Twitter on Olympics and other programming. Increasingly, what everyone is pitching looks like smarter versions of old-school television.

Also read: NewFronts Speakers See Channels Changing From Traditional TV 

And of course, where the eyeballs go, the advertisers follow, sooner or later. NewFronts sponsor IAB released stats showing ad revenues on connected TVs jumped 22% in the past year. 

Oh, sure, Snapchat and especially TikTok focused on their vertical-aspect, mobile-only shows rather than big screens, both originals and from brand-safe vetted creators. Both had entertaining presentations overstuffed with creator cameos, including a performance by singer Lubalin saying “Don’t make ads. Make TIkToks instead.” 

They’ll both grab plenty of ad dollars this year, Wall Street analysts expect. But big screens are having their time, again, though with more smarts than ever. 

"As an advertiser that's built a lot of our brands on traditional linear TV, we also know that that's a medium that's not growing any longer," said Zena Srivatsa Arnold, Kimberley-Clark's global chief digital and marketing officer, who took part in YouTube's Brandcast. "We want to be where the consumers are. That giant screen on your wall isn't going away. In fact, consumers are using it more and more."

Yes indeed. And that’s good news for all the media companies headed back to the future, with big screens hiding even bigger brains.

Condé Nast introduced The Influence Network, offering a collection of videos that it says has "more scale than influencers and more scale than influencers."

At its NewFront presentation Tuesday, the company also announced Prime Live, which gives advertisers access to Condé Nast cultural events such as the Vanity Fair Oscar Red Carpet and Vogue’s Met Gala, and Prime Shoppable, which links audiences directly with opportunities to purchase products and services they see on screen.

This Fall Prime Live will go behind the scenes with a new live talk show Good Morning Vogue, which is set to launch during New York Fashion Week.

GQ’s Grooming Gods, giving audiences a look at the self-care routines of celebrities, will be the first Prime Shoppable series.

The company also reiterated its commitment to providing a platform for new voices, diverse content and inclusive programming that is more representative of multicultural audiences and communities.

The NewFront presentation comes two weeks after the departures of Adam Rapoport as the editor of Condé Nast’s Bon Appetit and Matt Duckor, VP in charge of programming. Rapoport left after a 2004 picture emerged showing him in a racially insensitive costume surfaced on social media. Druckor exited the company amid claims he failed to put people of color in videos and after old racist tweets by Drukor surfaced.

As part of the NewFront, the company reiterated its commitment to providing a platform for new voices, diverse content and inclusive programming that is more representative of multicultural audiences and communities.

"Condé Nast has always led the cultural conversation," said Reggie Williams, senior VP of programming. "Now more than ever, I believe in the power of our media to affect change, and video and audio have crucial roles to play in that transformation."

The company’s linear channels are launching on distributors including Roku, Vizio and Pluto TV. Those linear channels will include entertainment offerings. The strategy follows up on the GQ Sports branded series My First Million, in which star athletes and pro rookies share where they splurged and how they saved after becoming instant millionaires.

GQ Sports, the premium destination for sports-hungry fans everywhere, is expanding its scope with an exclusive National Basketball Players Association partnership to launch a premium series for a streaming service and four digital shows with the NBA’s top talent. The programming will debut with Training My Double, in which athletes work with lucky fans to show them what it’s like to be real players, including their roles as entrepreneurs, educators and activists. The series will be directed exclusively by Black filmmakers. 

The video version of Condé Nast’s Bon Appetit is going linear, with a 24 hour a day channel launching Wednesday on the Samsung TV Plus platform.

Bon Appetit video programming has been available on demand on YouTube and other platforms and a free over-the-top channel with three original TV-length series was launched in February.

Programming on the Bon Appetit channel will include a special episode of Making Perfect with the whole test kitchen staff collaborating on a Thanksgiving meal.

Test kitchen chefs for 'Bon Appetit'

Other programming on the channel includes Gourmet Makes with Claire Saffitz, It’s Alive with Brad Leone, Reverse Engineering with Chris Morocco and Almost Every with Amiel Stanek.

Bon Appetit programming has generated more than 1 billion views across all platforms so far this year, up 19%. It has more than 4.7 million subscribers on YouTube, where viewers spent more than 2 billion minutes watching Gourmet Makes.

Samsung TV Plus is pre-installed on all Samsung sets make between 2016 and 2019. It delivers free, ad supported TV to users with an internet connection.

Univision Communications' Flama service is now available on Conde Nast Entertainment's The Scene.

Under the deal, the bicultural video network for millennials, which is owned and operated by the U.S. Spanish-language media leader and Bedrocket Media Ventures, will make more than 100 original episodes accessible to The Scene. New content will be delivered on a weekly basis.

The pact is the second for Flama in recent weeks: Last month it reached a licensing arrangement with Hulu for five of its original series.

The partnership, financial terms of which were not disclosed, also calls for CNE and Flama to co-develop projects going forward.

“The Scene represents the best in premium digital video and our curated programming lineup is resonating with our audience of upscale millennial viewers,” said Conde Nast Entertainment president Dawn Ostroff. “The addition of the Flama original series broadens our reach among millennial Hispanic viewers and brings a distinct voice to our growing collection of next-generation storytellers and entertainers.” 

“Through select top-tier media partners like Flama and its own media properties, Condé Nast Entertainment is building an exciting new platform with The Scene,” said Steven Benanav, General Manager of Flama.  “We are thrilled to expand the reach of Flama on The Scene.  It represents yet another place our audience can discover our original content starring some of today’s most popular digital talent.”

Since launching on YouTube in December 2013 and as a stand-alone destination in April 2014, Flama has produced over 20 original series, including “Drop the Mic with Becky G” featuring hip hop singer Becky G (pictured); “Left Unattended with D-stroy” starring personality D-stroy Melendez; “Super Accurate Soccer History” highlighting all aspects of soccer for fans; “The Secret Life of Babes” starring model and internet sensation Lisa Ramos; and “Taking on America” which follows DJ Danny Avila and singer J Balvin. There is also an array of shorts.

For its part, The Scene features over 100 original digital series from Condé Nast brands including Glamour, GQ, Vogue, Wired, Vanity Fair, Teen Vogue, Style.com, Self, Allure, Golf Digest, Bon Appétit, Epicurious, Brides, Details, W and The New Yorker, as well as content from partners ABC News, Major League Soccer, Buzzfeed, PBS Digital Studios, The Weather Channel, Forbes, Jash, The Verge and Variety. 

Additionally, “The Scene Presents” features exclusive original series including “HeyUSA” featuring YouTube stars Gracie Helbig and Mamrie Hart, “We the Economy” produced by Morgan Spurlock and Paul G. Allen, “Burt’s Buzz” starring Burt’s Bees founder Burt Shavitz, “Those People” starring Carrie Kemper (“The Office”) and Hayes Davenport (“Eastbound & Down”), “#followme” starring Zac Posen, Coco Rocha, Odile Gilbert, Kabuki and Chiara Ferragni (The Blonde Salad) as they each uniquely experience Zac Posen’s show at New York Fashion Week, and “Cardboard Box Office” which brings the popular and creative blog to life for the first time.