Mark Marshall: Last News

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBCUniversal is, for a quick moment, taking “Live, from New York” to a lounge found in a beach-side resort in France. Fresh episodes of “Saturday Night Live” have been in short supply in the U.S. due to the Hollywood writers strike, but NBC’s late-night mainstay could generate some interest on Wednesday at the Cannes Lions advertising festival. In a showcase led by NBC News’ Willie Geist, “SNL” executive producer Lorne Michaels will hold forth with cast members Bowen Yang, Chloe Fineman, Mikey Day and Ego Nwodim as part of a broader bid by NBCUniversal to get Madison Avenue to align itself with the program at it nears its 50th season in the fall of 2024.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large From the moment an animated “Ted” opened the NBCUniversal upfront, voiced by Seth MacFarlane prior to the writers strike, it was clear this was going to be an abbreviated event. For starters, until a week ago, this was still going to be Linda Yaccarino’s Radio City Music Hall show. But with Yaccarino off running Twitter (“Ted” making a crack about the crazies now at Twitter earned the biggest inadvertent laugh of the morning), it was up to Mark Marshall, NBCU interim chairman, global advertising & partnerships, to make the pitch to advertisers. “In all of our conversations leading up today, regardless of client or category, there has been one constant…this is going to be a very important year for your businesses,” Marshall said, counting 32 pharma launches, 60 auto releases (including 46 electric vehicles) and over 100 movie releases (“which puts us back to pre-pandemic levels”) this year. “We know this is a competitive year. And here at NBCUniversal, we are built for these moments.”

Even without a once-in-a-generation strike or a Twitter bombshell, next week would already pose a challenge to media companies making their annual upfront pitches to ad buyers in New York.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The 50th season of “Saturday Night Live” isn’t slated to kick off until the fall of 2024. But that doesn’t mean NBC has to wait until then to start lining up sponsors. NBCUniversal intends to start talking to advertisers about the possibilities in the industry’s annual “upfront” sales session, says Mark Marshall, the company’s president of advertising sales and partnerships, in a recent interview. NBC could start calling attention to the landmark season during its telecasts of the 2024 Summer Olympics from Paris, he says, which means the media company is eager to start discussing ideas soon. TV’s “upfront,” when U.S. networks try to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory, is expected to kick into gear next week, when NBCU and its competitors hold a series of glitzy presentations for Madison Avenue. “Saturday Night Live” generated approximately $74,7 million dollars in ad sales in 2022, according to Vivvix, a tracker of ad spending. That figure represents a 12% dip from the nearly $85.3 million “SNL” generated in 2021.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor “Night Court,” the NBC sitcom that was recently rebooted, enjoyed its heyday after its debut on NBC’s Thursday-night schedule in 1984. But NBCUniversal is hoping the retooled comedy will lead Madison Avenue into the future. When the original program launched, built around star Harry Anderson as a non-traditional metropolitan judge, NBC sold ads against the debut broadcast of each episode as well as a rerun later in the season. Now, says Mark Marshall, the executive recently given wider oversight over NBCUniversal’s national ad sales, the company is selling broad-reach ads attached to the linear debut of each episode as well as targeted advertising that appears adjacent to the series when it streams on Peacock.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Linda Yaccarino, who spends most of her day trying to sell advertisers on NBCUniversal commercial inventory, will take on a new task of trying to do something similar with actors and artists. Yaccarino was named global chair of YMU, a British talent-management group, replacing Harvey Goldsmith, who left the company in 2021. Yaccarino will retain her role at NBCU, where she is global chairman of global advertising and partnerships. “Linda’s appointment shows the scale of ambition for the Group – her value, knowledge and expertise will enable us to deliver an even better service to our clients and turbo charge our international growth,’ said Mary Bekhait, YMU’s global CEO, in a statement.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorA new NBCUniversal advertising executive is taking on the task of tackling advertisers to link themselves to such sports properties as “Sunday Night Football” and the soon-to-launch USFL.Peter Lazarus will take the lead on selling ads behind the bulk of NBCUniversal’s sports programming, part of a gradual overhaul of the company’s work behind connecting Madison Avenue with some of TV’s biggest and most-watched properties.Lazarus has been named executive vice president of sports ad-sales, taking up responsibilities previously held by Dan Lovinger, a longtime NBCU ad-sales exec who has been assigned to focus more intently on the company’s efforts behind Olympics advertising. Lovinger was elevated to president in January and will lead Olympics ad-sales efforts as NBCU works harder to fulfill a commitment it has made along the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, pledging to offer long-term deals to partners for TV, digital, and live event advertising, as well as brand activations and associations with Team USA.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorKickoff for Super Bowl LVI is still days away, but NBC has scored at least one touchdown.NBC has sold out all of its inventory for the Big Game, scheduled to be broadcast on Sunday, February 13, from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. NBCUniversal said in a statement Thursday that it has sold every in-game unit available across NBC, Telemundo and all digital platforms including Peacock.

NBCUniversal has sold out all ad inventory for Super Bowl LVI across NBC, Telemundo and Peacock, with multiple 30-second spots fetching a record $7 million.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDan Lovinger, a veteran ad-sales executive who has helped supervised outreach to advertisers for NBCUniversal venues ranging from prime-time TV shows to “Sunday Night Football” and the Super Bowl, is getting a new assignment.Lovinger will oversee all efforts aimed at getting advertisers to sponsor NBCUniversal’s Olympics and Paralympics broadcasts, a pillar of the company’s programming strategy representing hundreds of hours worth of some of TV’s highest-priced inventory. Lovinger, who had been an executive vice president, has been elevated to president, and will report directly to Linda Yaccarino, NBCU’s global chairman of advertising sales and partnerships.

A conman who targeted disgraced footballer Adam Johnson and various Olympic athletes died after pouring acid over himself in court, an inquest heard.