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NBCUniversal Execs Take Aim at Netflix’s Advertising Pivot in Upfront Pitch
NBCUniversal executives took aim at Netflix for its late entry into the ad-supported streaming market at their upfront presentation.

NBCUniversal Execs Take Aim at Netflix’s Advertising Pivot in Upfront Pitch

Lester Holt during NBC’s upfronts presentation on May 16.Courtesy of Eric Liebowitz/NBCUniversal

Executives from NBCUniversal were strutting like, well, peacocks on stage at Radio City Music Hall Monday morning.

Kicking off the TV industry’s first in-person upfront week since 2019, presenters did not hold back in barbing their competition, particularly Netflix (which was never mentioned by name), which recently announced plans to launch an advertising-supported tier later this year.

“It is obvious that our broad-based dual-revenue platform approach is right for the market,” NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell told attendees. “We have been committed to the ad supported video business since literally the first moments of our company’s history. This is not an extension if our core business, or a pivot, it is our core business.”

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But it was NBCUniversal’s ad sales chief Linda Yaccarino who didn’t hold back, reminding buyers that the last time they held an upfront, “we told you how Comcast NBCUniversal was inviting your businesses in, while other companies were actually pushing you out,” a reference which was seen at the time as a jab at Disney, which launched Disney+ that year without any advertising.

Now, of course, Disney is planning to launch an ad-supported tier of D+ later this year as well.

“In the last couple years, on top of everything that’s going on, you’ve had to totally rethink advertising, and some companies just haven’t been able to keep up with your needs,” Yaccarino added, taking aim squarely at the competition just getting into the ad game this year. “At those companies, advertising could seem like an afterthought… or even worse, a new idea for a revenue stream, but not here. At NBCUniversal, advertising has always been an asset for our business… designed to enhance your business.”

Yaccarino’s presentation culminated with a flex, placing NBCU seemingly above the fray, with everyone else years behind. “While the rest of the industry plays catch up, or tries to force feed your ads to consumers who never asked for them in the first place,” Yaccarino said, NBCU was always in that game.

“Because we know the future is ad-supported… and our entire company is already built, top to bottom, to support advertisers,” she added. “That’s why the rest of the industry will spend the next decade trying to become Comcast NBCUniversal.”