NBCU Seeking Prime-Time Rates For Peacock Ads
- by Karlene Lukovitz @KLmarketdaily, March 18, 2021
NBCUniversal has confirmed that it will seek prime-time TV rates for ads on its Peacock streaming service.
NBCU has made significant investments in Peacock’s reach, in special ad formats, and in delivering a non-cluttered, impactful ad environment by running only five minutes of ads per hour on the service, the network’s President of Advertising Sales and Partnerships, Laura Molen, told Variety.
“We are committed to building this space for marketers and keeping consumer engagement around their ads. Our pricing is going to reflect this,” she said.
NBCU is not alone. As streaming expands while linear TV ratings decline, and ad dollars follow viewers, all legacy media companies are expected to push hard for premium rates for streaming ads -- including during this year’s upfront, as Variety points out.
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If NBC goes about this the same way as it did with its "premium break" proposition several years back---which we believed had breakthrough potential for all networks as well as advertisers and viewers----it is certain to meet fierce buyer resistence. This is not your usual sell and you aren't going to have easy going by dealing mainly---or only---with time buyers. I hope NBC succeeds as higher CPMs for streaming buys are a valid proposition---but some major changes in approach are needed to make this concept work.
Audiences are no less valuable whether served over the air, through a cable, or over the top. Glad to see that NBCU is providing the content and applying price for the value of their audiences. Let's see the attribution data that goes along with all that and then make judgements on whether or not they right-sized their offering. For now, it's great to see the convergence of value for audience.