AMC Global Upfront 2026: Specialization Over Scale
Key announcements
Rebrand from AMC Networks to AMC Global Media
Expansion into sports-related content
Partnership with Meta to launch AMC streaming apps on the Meta Quest VR headset
New scripted series, including Thunder Road and Point Break
Global but Niche
AMC held its upfront presentation in New York on April 29, two weeks before the traditional upfront week. It was the company’s first upfront outing since rebranding from AMC Networks to AMC Global Media earlier this month.
The move from “networks” to “media” is just the latest acknowledgment that the old way of doing things — with a focus on TV — is no more. “Our new name reflects the ongoing transformation of our business into a global media and studio-driven company, with streaming out front as our leading source of domestic revenue,” AMC Global Media CEO Kristin Dolan said at the time of the announcement. “AMC Global Media produces and curates high-quality content and distributes it to viewers around the world through a variety of platforms and partnerships.”
Showing just how far beyond the TV screen the company is thinking, President and Chief Commercial Officer Kim Kelleher, announced a partnership with Meta in which the company will bring its streaming apps to the Meta Quest VR headset. The partnership kicks off with AMC+ later this year.
But going global doesn’t mean playing to the masses. AMC's core strategy is “specialization over scale,” focusing on creating high-quality, curated content for passionate, niche fan communities rather than pursuing mass-market scale.
That philosophy can be seen in the company’s stable of brands, which includes streamers like AMC+, Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now, ALLBLK, HIDIVE, and All Reality, and cable networks like AMC, BBC America, IFC, SundanceTV, and We TV, and AMC Studios.
A Different Sports Playbook
While the company is avoiding the costly game of buying rights to big-name sports leagues, it is offering fans sports-related content.
“We know we’re not going to be buying any of the major sports leagues, but we can tap into that audience,” Dan McDermott, chief content officer of AMC Global Media and president of AMC Studios, told Variety during a recent interview.
Toward that end, it’s greenlit Thunder Road, a scripted drama starring Dennis Quaid as the patriarch of a NASCAR family. The series will be co-produced with NASCAR. McDermott told ADWEEK that there will be plenty of opportunities for brands to join in, “whether that’s NASCAR partners or new brands coming in to play fictitious sponsors.”
Renewed for a second season is Rise, a docuseries made in conjunction with Skydance Sports and the NFL. Rise of the Saints will focus on the New Orleans Saints in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and leading up to the team’s Super Bowl victory in 2010.
AMC does have a rights deal with one sports league: TNA wrestling. AMC is home to the league’s Thursday Night IMPACT.
The Screen and Beyond
Other announcements for the upcoming year:
AMC is working on a Point Break series, which will pick up 25 years after the ending of the film and “is centered on a new dangerous heist crew with ties to the notorious Ex-Presidents gang.”
The first entry in its Great American Stories franchise will be an adaptation of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Production will start next year.
The company secured exclusive U.S. streaming rights to the new Canadian drama series YAGA, starring Carrie-Anne Moss, Noah Reid, Clark Backo, and Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams.
In order to promote The Vampire Lestat, AMC in June will host a live fan event at New York’s Beacon Theater. Lestat actor Sam Reid will perform original music ahead of a screening of the premier episode.
The company is expanding its partnership with Sphere Entertainment Co. Not only will it bring back “Sphere of Fear,” a Halloween-themed promotion tied to AMC’s FearFest events, this year it will introduce “Sphere of Cheer,” tied to its “Best Christmas Ever” programming.
AMC highlighted its AMCN Outcomes ad product, which allows advertisers to view the performance of campaigns across all platforms in real time based on desired consumer outcomes. It also touted First Streamer, a which allows advertisers to own the first ad in the first pod of any user sessions at a device level.
Read more
AMC Sees Second Chance to Win Ad Dollars for First Views of Long-Lasting Series (Variety)
AMC Comes Into Upfront With Bite, New Ways to Work With Advertisers (ADWEEK)
AMC Networks Rebranding as AMC Global Media (The Hollywood Reporter)