The deal will boost the O&Os’ appeal to advertisers who are trying to reach consumers in some of the nation’s biggest markets: NBC Owned Television Stations, the NBCUniversal division that oversees the 10 local television stations the company owns, and Comcast Sports Group, the division of the NBC Sports Group making up 14 regional networks, has signed a new national advertising sales partnership. NBC O&O stations group will sell national advertising for four Comcast SportsNets (New England, Mid-Atlantic, Northwest and Philadelphia). The new partnership, which combines Comcast Sports Group’s audiences with the NBC Owned Stations’ ad sales organization, will be phased in across the four markets over the next several months, starting with New England and Mid-Atlantic this month, followed by Northwest at the end of May and Philadelphia at the end of June.
The agreement with Comcast Sports Group follows the partnership that launched last summer with NECN (New England Cable News), which gave NBC O&O Stations responsibility for selling national advertising on behalf of NECN, the nation’s largest regional news network and also part of Comcast Sports Group.
“We used NECN as a test for this new model and it worked so well that we decided to expand this relationship to more markets,” said Ray Warren, EVP/Chief Revenue Officer for Comcast Sports Group. “Our regional sports networks have delivered a lot of value to advertisers because of the hard-to-reach male demos we attract. By combining selected regional sports networks with the NBC-owned stations, we’re now able to create a complete local package with compelling cross-demo appeal for advertisers that is unprecedented in its reach.”
To support this new business focus, Joseph Gallagher has been tapped as Vice President of National Sales for the Regional Sports Networks, reporting into the NBC Owned Stations division. Gallagher has worked in ad sales for several media companies, including Raycom Sports, Disney – ABC Family and ReelzChannel, bringing more than 25 years of experience to the role. He will be working with the Comcast Sports Group and NBC Owned Stations’ National Sales Organizations across the country.
