NBCU Previews ‘Powerful’ Upfront Event Amid CEO Upheaval, WGA Strike

This year, it’s not your typical upfront week: Paramount is out, Netflix and YouTube are in—and multiple legacy media companies are changing venues.

However, through it all, NBCUniversal has stayed steadfast. On May 15, the company will once again kick off upfront week with a presentation at Radio City Music Hall.

“Obviously, there have been a lot of changes. But not only do we love Radio City, I think our clients have loved it,” Mark Marshall, president, advertising sales and client partnerships, told Adweek. “So while other things have changed along the way, we love being the leadoff man for the week, so we’re excited.”

Besides the upfront week presenter and venue changes, this year’s event will also likely be impacted by the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, which is in its second week. Barring a last-minute settlement, the strike will bring protesters to the streets outside NBCU’s presentation, much like it did for Peacock’s NewFronts event last week.

It remains to be seen how the strike—which is expected to be lengthy—will impact negotiations or upfront week presentations, since celebrities may be wary of crossing picket lines. Though Marshall didn’t go into specifics about potential effects, the ad sales president assured, “NBCU will have an extremely powerful upfront show and will still have great talent participating.”

NBCU CEO Jeff Shell’s stunning ouster last month is another issue looming over the company’s upfront plans. However, an NBCU spokesperson previously told Adweek that the former CEO likely wasn’t going to play a major role in this year’s event anyway, with Marshall; Linda Yaccarino, chairman of global advertising and partnerships; and Susan Rovner, chairman, entertainment content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, already set to run the show.

Amid Shell’s absence from the upfront event and this year’s negotiations, the company is “forging ahead,” said Marshall. “We have a senior leadership team that’s been together for more than a decade, and so we will be moving forward, and we’re excited about the leadership, the talent and content that we have here in NBCU.”

The ad sales and partnerships president—who will be overseeing upfront negotiations solo following an ad sales team restructuring in February—said he’s “excited to be out there” to tell the company’s story at Radio City.

“We’re trying to focus on the idea of what our content is. There are different players who are in the mix this year who have taken over different parts of the week. And I think there’s a difference between content and a difference between distribution,” Marshall said. “And we’re very proud of the content that we have, and we love being able to show that off.”

What to expect

Marshall said the company was ready to tout its dramas, “a couple new comedies” and big tentpole items, including the Big 10 on Saturday nights and the country version of the People’s Choice Awards.

Additionally, last year’s presentation, the first in-person upfront week event since 2019, was a star-studded spectacle full of musical numbers and Bravolebrities to celebrate BravoCon. And with BravoCon heading to Las Vegas in 2023, Marshall said attendees can expect the event to be another topic of conversation.

Sports-wise, the 2024 Olympics in Paris will be a priority, along with the company having Spanish-language coverage for every game from the Women’s World Cup on Telemundo and Peacock.

“With all the focus on women’s sports and the importance of continuing to provide some equity in terms of coverage and exposure, we’re very proud to be able to partner with FIFA for the Women’s World Cup,” Marshall said.

The exec also noted the importance of DEI, which he said “absolutely is a priority” despite the soft ad market.

“The nice part of it is you’ve seen marketers who have really walked the walk and have really leaned into DEI and partnered with us in new ways,” Marshall said, adding that some advertisers who have never invested in women’s sports are getting involved in the World Cup.

“Is there more to do? Absolutely. But we’ve spent a lot of time working with marketers over the past year to figure out ways to reach different audiences in new ways.”

Optimism through uncertainty

And speaking of the ad market, the ad sales president was optimistic.

“If we were talking probably three months ago, it would have been a different tone. I think there’s a bit of optimism,” he said, adding, “Many of the clients, as well as agencies, are feeling a little bit better just because the more the macroeconomic conditions have improved.”

But even with the economy expected to rebound in the second half of the year, there’s still the problem with declining linear ratings and increasing fragmentation among viewers.

“If you were looking at television ratings the same way as you were in 1980, I think you would be concerned, but we’re very excited about the idea of—if you look at NBC and Peacock together, in one month that’s 159 million people that you can reach, and there’s only 10% duplication of that number,” Marshall said.

“So what streaming has done is it’s brought in this whole new audience. And at the same time, you still have three of four U.S. consumers watching linear television every single week, and over 50% of all the content that is being streamed actually originated on linear television.”

Marshall also noted the strength of NBCU’s digital ecosystem, with 95% of all digital ads seen to full completion across the company’s platforms.

And in terms of measuring all that impact, Marshall said NBCU’s perspective on measurement “hasn’t changed,” with the company committed to helping clients through the multicurrency reality.

“It’s imperative for us to continue to push the marketplace forward on that,” Marshall said. “And we are here to do what works best for the advertisers and agencies. And we’re setting set up to transact on the different measurements that they want to look at regardless of how they’ve operated in the past.”

Despite all the industry upheaval, advertising is part of the company’s DNA, Marshall said. “Since the beginning, advertising is all we do. And 99% of all the content that we deliver has advertising tied to it. That is what we are focused on: making sure our advertisers win.”