The 2025 upfronts are a couple of months away, but NBCUniversal‘s ad sales chairman Mark Marshall is already sending a message to Madison Ave.
Marshall sent a message to NBCU’s clients and partners Monday afternoon, confirming that the company will once again convene the morning of May 12 at Radio City Music Hall, and that Telemundo will move its traditional evening celebration to Tuesday after Amazon took over its Monday night slot.
But the focus of Marshall’s memo is about teeing up 2026, the 100th anniversary of NBC, and the onslaught of live events that the company plans to bring to market in this year’s upfront.
If there was any ever doubt that sports and live events are where the industry is tilting, Marshall’s memo will put that to rest. NBC will have Super Bowl LX, the 2026 Winter Olympics, and the return of the NBA on NBC all in a few week span. And the year will also include the FIFA World Cup, the return of BravoCon, and returning events like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, pro golf, college football, Premier League soccer, and others, in what Marshall is declaring “the greatest collection of content that has ever been assembled by one media company.”
The goal of the content barrage? Securing engagement, increasingly the most valuable consumer resource, with everyone on their phones while watching TV, gaming while scrolling social media and shopping while streaming.
“Connecting with consumers in this overstimulated environment is today’s version of a moonshot,” and media companies need to go big to reach them. Marshall is betting that NBCU will be able to deliver on that come May.