NBCUniversal Sees Ad Volume Gains in TV’s Upfront Market
variety.comBrian Steinberg Senior TV EditorTV networks continue to fare better than expected in the current “upfront” market as they harness streaming video and sports — and a willingness to accept lower rates — in order to keep Madison Avenue’s money flowing.NBCUniversal said it wrapped its upfront negotiations in the annual upfront, and could have seen advance advertising commitments for NBC’s primetime schedule rise by as much as 20%.
Variety estimates that upfront commitments for NBC primetime could total between $3.2 billion and $3.4 billion, compared with between $2.68 billion and $2.98 billion for its primetime broadcast inventory in 2021.
In 2020, NBC secured between $2.68 billion and $2.84 billion.Haggling takes place in a tricky economy. The networks have largely agreed to take narrower pricing hikes than last year, according to multiple people familiar with the negotiations.
Why? Because they realize that the threat of a recession and supply-chain issues have left their clients with less visibility into the future.
Read more on variety.com
