It’s been more than one year since Jeff Shell was dismissed as Chief Executive Officer at NBCUniversal and the subsequent July 2023 naming of Mark Lazarus as Chairman of NBCUniversal Media and Donna Langley as Chairman of the NBCUniversal Studio Group and Chief Content Officer.
On Monday morning, both Lazarus and Langley put their respective imprints on a NBCU Upfront presentation that sent a clear message to marketers: Only NBCUniversal offers a one-stop shop with touchpoints across digital and linear properties consumed by Americans from wake-up to the end of their day.
With Langley offering attendees an exclusive Radio City Music Hall-only sneak preview of the forthcoming motion picture Wicked, based on the popular Broadway musical, before introducing actor and comedian Kevin Hart, the Upfront was perhaps different than others seen in recent years because of its multiplatform message. From the OTT Peacock platform to live tentpole events including the Olympic Games Paris 2024, NBCUniversal are the “only ones that have it in one place,” Lazarus shared, claiming that there’s no other company that can do what NBCU does, and how it does it.
Indeed, the mood and feel of the Upfront was shaped to send the message to attendees that NBC is a “cultural mainstay” and that it is the foundation of a company with cable channels, a growing streaming content hub and consumer draws that are unavailable elsewhere. This includes The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, with Fallon formally opening the Upfront presentation by riffing on Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” by signing, “Why are we here?”
It’s actually a question some in the industry ask, with the Upfronts perhaps losing their importance in an age when NewFronts command marketers’ attention and “snackable content” destinations including TikTok continue to attract more dollars from advertisers than ever. The Wall Street Journal dated May 13 featured a front-page article highlighting how Modelez “didn’t spend a dime advertising on TV” when it sought to promote a limited edition Oreo this year. The reason? Not enough Gen Z consumers, or multicultural audiences and households with children, watch linear television, WSJ said, quoting Mondelez Global Senior SVP of Consumer Experience Jonathan Halvorson.
Don’t tell that to NBCU, which saw Fallon abruptly attempt to shift from downbeat to energetic in his opening routine by taking a cue from Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” by singing, “This ain’t no Netflix,” or Hulu.
Lazarus then took the stage, with Fallon exiting, noting that, unlike the OTT giants Fallon sang about, NBCU can create and deliver content in ways they can’t.
With “zero compromises,” Lazarus discussed how NBCU has invested in content, and the technology that powers its platforms.
Later in the Upfront, talent including Zachary Quinto and Wendi McLendon-Covey took the stage to promote NBC prime-time offerings, with McLendon-Covey, known for her role on the just-concluded ABC series The Goldbergs, commenting, “There is no replacement for broadcast.”
Yet, Peacock continued to outshine what was known as “the Peacock network” across the Upfront presentation, with actress Amanda Seyfried taking the stage to introduce the Peacock limited series “Long Bright River,” in which she stars and is an Executive Producer.
Also getting marketers’ attention as they sat through the Upfront was a preview for the Peacock series “Laid,” starring rising star Stephanie Hsu [“Everything, Everywhere All At Once”] and Zosia Mamet [“Girls”]. The plot? “A woman finds out her former lovers are dying in unusual ways and must go back through her sex timeline to confront her past in order to move forward … LAID is a f**cked up rom-com where the answer to ‘Why can’t I find love, is there something wrong with me?’ is a resounding ‘Yes. There is. The problem is definitely you.'”
Other highlights saw unlikely Olympics correspondents Snoop Dogg and Kevin Hart alongside Mike Tirico ahead of Cesar Conde, Chairman of the NBCUniversal News Group, promote NBCU’s news content alongside NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt.
And, there were plenty of potty-mouth moments from Snoop Dogg, who influenced Michael Bublé to go off-script ahead of a standards performance by attempting a rap. He performed with an orchestra ahead of a Bravo presentation from Andy Cohen and “Watch What Happens Live.”
The nearly two-hour spectacle ended with a performance from Kelly Clarkson, but not before late-night host Seth Meyers took a swipe at ex-chairman of Global Advertising & Partnerships for NBCUniversal Linda Yaccarino, now at X (formerly Twitter), and even noted that while the Upfronts celebrated broadcasting and television, it could be worse … it could be Radio.
