NBCUniversal says it has closed upfront advertising deal-making
for the 2022-2023 season with record results -- with total volume from all its businesses at more than $7 billion, according to media executives.
NBCU says its high-profile streamer
Peacock posted more than $1 billion in upfront ad commitments -- double the total of a year ago.
Looking specifically at its broadcast platforms -- including NBC Television Network, and
Telemundo -- the company says there was 20% growth in broadcast entertainment, the NFL, and multicultural programming.
With regard to the latter, NBCU says Spanish-language rights to the 2022
FIFA World Cup drove incremental revenue.
NBC says there was “strong demand” for its cable network programming, with pricing “on-par with broadcast rates.”
For
its part, the company says this upfront period scored “the highest-grossing upfront since Comcast’s acquisition of NBCUniversal.” Apart from Peacock, NBCU did not release specific
financial dollar figures.
Media agency executives say upfront CPMs -- the cost-per-thousand viewer prices -- posted high single-digit/low double digit percentage rises versus a year ago for
NBCU, and for other legacy TV network-based media groups.
For all its platforms, NBCU says there was “significant” growth across retail, fast-food restaurant, consumer packaged
goods, technology, social and streaming marketing categories, with the highest growth seen the pharmaceutical category -- 40% growth -- and travel, which saw a 30% increase among travel
marketers.
Looking at the broader digital/streaming picture (which includes Peacock), NBCU says there was almost 20% growth year-over-year.
As it previously announced about a week ago,
NBC says more than 40% of upfront business was conducted outside traditional age and gender guarantees, mostly provided by Nielsen.
Legacy TV-based media companies have been rapidly looking to
expand their roster of measurement companies with broader access to data from new sources -- including smart TV and other digital connected devices, as well as first party consumer data -- this in
seeking better cross platform return on media investment for marketers.
In this regard, NBCU says One Platform, its unified cross-platform selling service, has seen a 48% increase
year-over-year.
In a release, Linda Yaccarino, chairman, global advertising & partnerships for NBCUniversal said: “The momentum of this year's upfront is underscored by our
commitment to bring both simplicity and flexibility to a complex marketplace.”