1. CAR BRANDS BUILD NEW YORK AUTO SHOW BUZZ WITH SATELLITE EVENTS: The New York International Auto Show doesn’t open to the public until Saturday, but leading up to the event, automakers like Jaguar and Toyota have built buzz with pre-show satellite activations. The events might suggest that auto shows are still beneficial for brands trying to connect with consumers via experiences. The New York Times: “This year, Jaguar’s preshow event at the new Manhattan Jaguar Land Rover showroom did triple duty—introducing new versions of the Land Rover Range Rover Velar S.U.V. and the Jaguar XE sedan, promoting the new digs and giving V.I.P. customers the opportunity to meet insiders like the designer Ian Callum. Maximum impact is critical for important vehicles. Toyota hired the installation artist Michael Murphy to construct a three-dimensional model of the all-new Highlander S.U.V. using 200 panels of suspended paper. Perhaps you saw its image projected onto New York buildings and billboard spaces this week? The reveal of the actual vehicle, staged a stone’s throw from the Javits Convention Center, had the paper sculpture suspended near the D.J. Vashtie Kola’s performance set.” 2. COACHELLA EXPERIENCES A SLOWER YEAR: Is Coachella having a sleepy year? According to ticket resellers, local rental managers, and a hotel data company, the festival’s first weekend saw cheaper festival passes and lower hotel occupancy rates from recent years. The Desert Sun: “Price data provided by the online ticket marketplace Vivid Seats shows that the median cost of a general admission pass to the first weekend of the festival peaked at $679 in 2018 and fell to $598 in 2019, the lowest median cost on the website since a five-year nadir of $550 in 2016. … Occupancy on the first Saturday of the festival rose to 98.7 percent in 2018, according to data from the hospitality benchmarking firm STR, but decreased by 1.5 percent in 2019. The occupancy trend wasn't solely driven by new hotels entering the valley. Fewer hotel rooms were sold on the first Saturday of the festival this year compared to 2018. STR data also shows that the average cost of a hotel room on Saturday fell for the first time in four years. Average daily rate, a statistic the lodging industry uses to measure average rental income per room, declined from $466 in 2018 to $451 in 2019.” 3. ABC TO HOST ‘THE JEFFERSONS’ AND ‘ALL IN THE FAMILY’ LIVE EVENT: ABC has partnered with Jimmy Kimmel and Norman Lear to host a live, 90-minute tribute to the sitcoms The Jeffersons and All in the Family. The star-studded event, titled Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons, will air May 22. The event will recreate an original episode from each sitcom, with a cast that includes Woody Harrelson as Archie Bunker and Jamie Foxx as George Jefferson. The Hollywood Reporter: “The live production—set to begin at 8 p.m. on May 22—was years in the making for producers Sony Pictures Television, the indie studio that Lear has called home for years. The event stems from a two-year, first-look deal that Lear signed with the studio in July 2018. Included in that pact was the option to re-imagine titles from Lear's extensive library, including iconic series All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Maude, and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, among others. … The Lear live tribute arrives as ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke has put a premium on live events as she looks to revive the network after taking over for Channing Dungey. 'We start with scripted then focus on what broadcast can do specifically, uniquely and best: live events. Since I've been here, we've bought a few big tentpole live events,' Burke told THR during a Creative Space interview in March.” | 