MUSE Platinum

2025

FOX Upfront 2025

Entrant Company

Phoenix Media Group

Category

Event - New Category: Upfront

Client's Name

FOX Corporation

Country / Region

United States

Upfronts are the major annual presentations where TV networks and streaming services unveil their upcoming programming, ad-tech innovations, and partnership opportunities to advertisers. They set the tone for where ad dollars will go over the next year, which stories will get the biggest push, and where the media landscape is heading. The FOX Upfront 2025 is especially significant because it comes at a moment of turbulence and transformation in how people consume media (streaming, ad‐supported models, live events), how advertisers want measurable outcomes, and how content is shaped by sociocultural trends. They are competing with new and old alike; NBC, Disney, Amazon, Netflix, etc. and they need a show that is more visually engaging and arresting than those of its competitors.
A two pronged approach.
1) The visual design: These aren't just presentations, they’re high-stakes marketing spectacles aimed at persuading advertisers and media buyers to invest millions (sometimes billions) of dollars. The design and production value shape how the brand is perceived and how memorable the message becomes. The visual design matters because it:
- Signals brand strength and confidence
- Transforms business content into an experience
- Sets the emotional tone
- Differentiates
- Supports the marketing arcs
2) A/V: While the stage was encircled by screens, we placed a circular screen in the center of the stage, which we called the "Top Hat" that we could elevate out and be placed onto the stage, allowing us to transfer motion design ideas from the center stage to the backstage screens and reveal talent coming on to stage as well as the Borg-Warner Indy 500 Trophy, making the FOX presentation far more dynamic that those of the competing networks like Amazon, NBC, Warner Bros., Netflix and Univision.
The visuals are not decoration — it’s strategy. It shapes perception, makes complex content compelling, and gives advertisers the confidence that the FOX brand can deliver cultural impact. Networks often spend months and millions of dollars perfecting the design because it can directly influence the flow of ad dollars for the entire year.

Credits

Executive Vice President of Experiences & Design - FOX
Diana Ruiz
Executive Producer / FOX
Bill Richards
Creative Director / Phoenix Media Group
Jeffrey Man
Executive Producer & Director / Phoenix Media Group
Chris Phoenix
Executive Producer / Phoenix Media Group
Alison Sandler
Executive Producer / SALT
Don Strom
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