NBCUniversal took to the stage Monday to showcase its Upfront presentation to advertisers, where it focused much attention on live sports, reality TV and news offerings as it pitched against the backdrop of a Hollywood writers’ strike and a significant ad leadership change within the company.
And star power wasn’t exactly shining as brightly as usual for the Upfront event amid the ongoing WGA writers’ strike that started May 2, with particularly inopportune for media companies and programmers looking to secure significant ad dollars around upcoming content including scripted shows and TV movies that may be impacted. Striking writers also made their presence known outside of NBCU’s event at Radio City Music Hall on Monday, as The Hollywood Reporter reported more than 200 people marched in front of the venue’s entrances urging fair deal terms.
On stage Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCU Television and Streaming, explicitly said the company wanted to acknowledge the writers’ strike.
“We are grateful for the contribution writers make to our company and respect their right to demonstrate. It may take some time, but I know we will eventually get through this and the result will be a stronger foundation on which we can all move forward together,” Lazarus said.
Another notable (but not surprising) absence from the stage was former NBCU ad chief Linda Yaccarino, who days ahead of the event was confirmed as the new CEO of Twitter alongside NBCU’s announcement last Friday that she would be exiting the company immediately after a 12-year tenure.
With Yaccarino’s departure Mark Marshall, current president of advertising sales and client partnerships, stepped in to serve as interim chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCU. Marshall is reporting to Lazarus.
The exit also fit into a comical opening song by the “Ted” CGI teddy bear voiced by Seth MacFarlane, which joked during the musical number that “Twitter just let all the crazies back in.”
Lazarus acknowledged Yaccarino’s departure, citing his last-minute appearance at the event and saying, “In all seriousness, Linda and I have worked together for many, many years, here at NBC and at our time in sales at Turner, and for her many contributions and for building an excellent team here we want to thank her and wish her well.”
Marshall, meanwhile, on stage touted NBCU’s One Platform for advertisers – reaching 1 billion people worldwide – as well as the reach of the company’s linear and streaming properties. While fragmentation in the TV viewing ecosystem has been flagged as one of the key challenges for ad buying, Marshall told marketers that bringing NBCU’s cross-platform audiences together means separate services don’t need to be scary, instead “it can be an advantage for your brand.”
He said that across broadcast NBC and Peacock marketers can reach nearly 160 million people with only 10% duplication – a combination of scale and low duplication that advertisers are looking for, while aligning with content brands “actually want to be a part of.”
In April, NBCU also put an emphasis on elevating the importance of content quality and distinguishing between different types of video programming ads run against, introducing a Content Quality Index in partnership with Marketcast.
Marshall on Monday also noted that brands using NBCU’s One Platform have seen an average 16% sales lift.
“When you combine that impact, with the reach of 227 million people in the US every month, that’s how you move your business forward,” he commented.