• by Wayne Friedman , August 18, 2014

The big-rated drama was a key piece in lifting the network to the top spot among all broadcast networks -- the second-best-rated drama next to ABC’s “Scandal” last season among 18-49 viewers.

The network will use heavy messaging of on-air, print, outdoor and digital marketing platforms to tout the show, and in particular the big-time criminal character -- Raymond “Red” Reddington -- played by James Spader.

For its on-air NBC TV promos, messaging will including Reddington’s favorite one-liners set to AC/DC’s classic rock song “Back in Black.” It will play in all of NBC’s dayparts — daytime, prime time and late night — as well as the cable networks of NBCUniversal.

In print, top magazine titles will have a “faux facelift” -- specially created “Blacklist”’s covers in Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, Us Weekly, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Playboy.

Outdoor marketing campaigns in New York, will include heavy bus and subway presence, as well as billboards in Times Square, Penn Station and outside the Lincoln Tunnel. Heavy bus ads will also be in Los Angeles - including wallscapes on Sunset Boulevard, the 101 Freeway and the busy intersection of Highland and Franklin Avenues.

There will also be a big digital and social media presence -- “cover campaigns” by promoting the show editorially.
In addition, NBC will commission six artists creating six giant murals in high-traffic metropolitan cities. Google Maps will allow consumers worldwide to view the murals online.

Last season, “The Blacklist” averaged a Nielsen 2.9 rating among 18-49 viewers looking at the live-plus-same-day viewing metric. (ABC’s “Scandal” averaged a 3.0 rating).

“The Blacklist” pulled in a 4.5 rating in the (L7) live plus seven days of time-shifting metric.  Total viewership averaged 10.8 million in the live plus same time metric and 16.9 million in L7 -- garnering the best results in time-shifting over the seven-day period.

The show’s 2014-2015 debut’s September 22 at 10 p.m.