NBCU Upfront Shows TV Is A Whole New Ball Game
NBCU said that almost 60% of the commitments advertisers made were transacted on advanced audiences in the upfront.
This year’s upfront is demonstrating how much has the TV business changed since NBC dominated primetime with Seinfeld and “Must See TV.”
Broadcast is no longer king. Streaming is ascendant, generating more TV usage than broadcast and cable combined, according to the latest figures from Nielsen. And sooner or later, ad dollars are sure to follow eyeballs to streaming.
The broadcast primetime schedules–NBC’s included have lost its luster, and cable is in free fall–in fact NBCU is spinning off nearly all of its cable networks into a new company called Versant.
But NBCU still has TV assets that remain attractive to advertisers.
That starts with live programming, especially sports. Sports is probably the biggest reason why NBCU is able to claim that it has concluded its 2025-26 upfront negotiations with the highest ad sales volume in its history.
Next season NBC will have a remarkable collection of sports programming, starting with the return of the National Basketball Association. In a 1990s flashback, John Tesh is back with Roundball Rock and Michael Jordan will be a commentator, so it will feel a bit like the good old days.
For one remarkable 17 day period, NBCU will have a formidable array of sports programming with the Milan Winter Olympics, Super Bowl LX and the World Cup (Spanish language rights). Mike Tirico will be very busy.
During its upfront presentation in May, NBCU heavily promoted athletic programming along with other live programming appearing on NBCU platforms.
Advertisers bit. NBCU says that its sports volume was up 45% year over year this upfront and that it added 20% new clients. The World Cup kicked Telemundo to have its biggest upfront to date.
With the Sunday Night NBA basketball leading the charge, NBCU said its broadcast ad volume was up 15% across news, sports and entertainment. Over 25% of NBCU’s NBA advertisers will be new to broadcast during the upcoming season, showing renewed vitality for linear.
While not the biggest, NBCU is a significant player in ad-supported streaming with Peacock. During the upfront, Peacock ad volume–already north of $1 billlion–grew 20%, the company said.
Peacock now represents nearly a third of NBCU’s total upfront advertising commitments.
With Peacock as a driver, NBCU says that it had its largest digital upfront.
In the ‘25-26 Upfront negotiations, NBCUniversal sold the company's entire portfolio, across linear and streaming, under its “One Platform” banner. NBCU Ad Sales continues to represent domestic Versant inventory on cable networks including CNBC, E!, Golf Channel, MSNBC, Oxygen, Syfy, USA, and will do so again during he next upfront cycle. , for the next Upfront cycle.
Another way in which this upfront is different is that more commercials are being bought on data-driven advanced audiences, rather than simple age/sex demographics. NBCU said that almost 60% of the commitments advertisers made were transacted on advanced audiences in the upfront.
In the upfront, many advertisers opted to use programmatic technology to execute their upfront buys. NBCU said that nearly $1 billion in upfront deals came through the programmatic window.
With its expanded portfolio of programmatic and targeted offerings, NBCU also attracted more business from small- and medium sized clients, many of whom are using national TV for the first time. NBCU said that 30% of its media-sized clients were new to the company this year.
NBCU’s upfront performance comes amid an atmosphere of uncertainty fostered by changes in tariff and other economic policies. Buyers and sellers are also adjusting to the use of new currencies, including Nielsen’s Big Data+Panel ratings.
“This year, we went to the market earlier than ever to strategically align our powerful content slate with our clients’ goals,” said Mark Marshall, chairman, Global Advertising and Partnerships at NBCUniversal. “The response has been extraordinary, and we are incredibly grateful for our partners’ trust and collaboration. In a year set to redefine industry benchmarks, ad-supported reach remains the most influential force in media – and no one delivers it like NBCU. With a cross-platform strategy supercharged by cutting-edge technology, we’re proud to engage 286 million people monthly – setting a new standard and delivering the most successful Upfront in our company’s history.”
During upfront presentation week, buyers heard and saw a lot about live sports. Sports is particularly important to Fox’s strategy. It will be interesting to see when Fox announces itis done with its upfront negotiations.
And with NBCU crowing about the performance of the NBA, what will we hear from Warner Bros. Discovery, which turned over rights to the league’s games after 36 years?
