NBCU Plans Streaming-Video Presentation for Advertisers in May

NBCUniversal said it would hold a one-hour streaming-video presentation for Madison Avenue in May to discuss the advertising marketplace, the first of the big U.S. media companies to commit to a formal conversation with advertisers in the wake of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a message sent to agencies and clients Friday, NBCU said it planned to hold a “State of the Marketplace Conversation” likely to center around its efforts to manage TV and digital-video inventory as part of the same process.  Executives do not see the meeting as a traditional “upfront” meeting, which the networks usually hold in mid-May, but rather an “update” of sorts, according to a person familiar with the matter. This person suggested the media company would offer some “news” during the session, but would also detail how NBCU plans to approach the industry’s “upfront” market, when TV companies try to sell the bulk of their advertising in advance of the next programming season.

That sales effort has been thrown into disarray by the pandemic. Many advertisers  – particularly those in the travel, movie and automotive categories – are trying to navigate a climate in which consumers shelter at home and in which vast amounts of consumer spending has been curtailed. While some TV sponsors have indicated they are ready to make advertising commitments now, as one would do in a typical market, others are pressing for a sales process to take place in September or October, when they can make purchases for 2021.

More to come…