Linda Yaccarino was gone, but not forgotten, as NBCUniversal kicked off upfront week with its presentation this morning at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.
The longtime ad sales chief departed the company on Friday to become Twitter’s CEO, requiring last-minute rewrites to NBCUniversal’s upfront presentation. In her absence, Mark Marshall, formerly president of advertising sales and client partnerships, was named interim chairman of NBCUniversal’s advertising and partnerships group, reporting to Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming.
Both Lazarus, who was the first executive on stage (a role previously filled by NBCU CEO Jeff Shell, who exited the company last month), and Marshall paid tribute to Yaccarino during the presentation. “We want to thank her and wish her well,” said Lazarus.
Meanwhile, a joke at Twitter’s expense early in the presentation took on new meaning given Yaccarino’s recent departure. The event kicked off with a video featuring Seth MacFarlane’s foul-mouthed, talking bear, Ted, performing a song and dance about the importance of TV ads, especially over other platforms such as social media. The line that got the biggest laugh from the audience: “Twitter may seem like the place to begin/but Twitter just let all the crazies back in.”
But Yaccarino’s absence wasn’t the only reason that NBCUniversal’s presentation was anything but ordinary, and more subdued than usual. Because of the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, most of NBCUniversal’s entertainment talent declined to participate in the upfront, in solidarity with the writers (who picketed outside Radio City, creating a somewhat congested presence as people scooted by signs to line up for the venue). Radio City is just the first of the WGA’s planned protests during upfront week, as the group is set to hit each major publisher presentation.
Lazarus also acknowledged the writers strike, which was a major contrast to how NBCU handled the strike at its NewFronts event two weeks earlier, completely ignoring it during Peacock’s event despite writers protesting outside.
“We are grateful for the contribution writers make to our company and respect their right to demonstrate,” Lazarus said. “It may take some time, but I know we will eventually get through this and the result will be a stronger foundation upon which we can all move forward together.”