NBCU Claims Growth in Upfront Advertising Sales

NBCUniversal said it has largely completed its upfront ad sales , registering a modest increase in volume across broadcast, cable and streaming.

Particularly strong sellers were sports, Peacock and digital platforms.

“This past year, we focused every investment and innovation on driving media effectiveness for our clients. Our engaging content provides the ultimate canvas for our advertisers to tell their brand stories to their consumers,” Mark Marshall, chairman, global advertising and partnerships at NBCU , said. ”And in this year’s Upfront, NBCUniversal saw growth in advertising commitments across its portfolio in key business areas including strategic audiences, live programming, and streaming—demonstrating the value of our storytelling and the strength of our powerful tech stack to the marketplace.”

With cord-cutting and the shift to streaming, legacy media companies are adjusted this ad offerings to compete with digital companies like Google and Amazon, as well as streamers like Netflix and Roku.

NBC has gotten into streaming with Peacock and has invested in data and technology in order to offer ads that are more targeted with results that are easier to quantify.

Still, lower ratings for broadcast and cable have put pressure on prices as advertisers have more choices, particularly when it comes to entertainment programming, buyers said.

Sports was particularly strong, with NFL Sunday Night Football remaining the highest-rated primetime show on TV.

Sources familiar with the situation said sports on NBC generated its highest level of upfront commitments ever.

NBCU also saw demand for Bravo, its late-night shows and NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt , with an election coming up.

NBC also had strong sales for the 50th anniversary season of Saturday Night Live .

Direct-to-consumer advertisers, more used to programmatic buying, increased their upfront commitments at NBCU by 50%. These advertisers, many of them new to the upfront, both in primetime, news and sports.