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NBC, With Primetime Back in Favor, Will Opt for Full-on Upfront

Apr 28, 2010  •  Post A Comment

NBC will return to the traditional upfront presentation after two years of experimenting with different approaches to courting advertisers, Stuart Elliott reports in the New York Times’ Media Decoder blog. 

NBC will also take a new approach with the type of advertising it sells, reports Brian Steinberg in Advertising Age.  The network will be touting tailored marketing packages that feature ads expressly created for marketers, such as a Honda ad that run on "Chuck" and featured the show’s characters.

The return to the traditional upfront show comes after its "infront" presentations in 2008 and 2009, when NBC scheduled meetings before the other broadcast networks. During those years, the network had slimmed down its pilot production, favoring pre-sold shows, but that didn’t result in any big hits and produced some flops.

This year NBC will hold its upfront presentation on May 17 and will focus on programming. The strategy reflects “back to basics,” Mike Pilot, president for NBC Universal advertising sales, said. “For us, it’s a requirement. Our big issue in the marketplace is getting NBC prime-time back to health.” Pilot said NBC is considering another hour of comedy, perhaps on Wednesday evenings.

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