Latest in TV Advertising

NBCUniversal has exceeded last year’s record-setting upfront ad revenue haul north of $7 billion, company insiders said in confirming the finalizing of upfront dealmaking. Rates increased by high-single-digits, fueled by strong growth in categories like retail, quick-serve restaurants, consumer packaged goods…

Rita Ferro, president of ad sales for Disney, said the forthcoming ad-supported tier of Disney+ will have a less “robust” amount of ads compared with Hulu. That disparity, at least initially, will mainly be because about 65% of subscribers come to the streaming service for movies, which don’t lend themselves to…

In today’s traditional doubleheader opening of the upfronts in New York, Fox and NBCUniversal execs took digs at the “paywall” strategy of Netflix and Disney, in the first of many salvos expected this week. Kicking off Fox’s mostly virtual event, ad sales chief Marianne Gambelli took note of the industry’s shift to…

As the NewFronts start their first in-person edition in New York since 2019, streaming stats are in for 2021, and the market is officially booming. The IAB, the industry group behind the NewFronts, issued its ninth annual report on online ad spending, finding that connected TV spending exploded to $15.2 billion, up…

ISpot.tv, a leading challenger to Nielsen for supremacy in the increasingly fraught TV and streaming ratings business, has received a $325 million investment from Goldman Sachs. Since its founding in 2012, iSpot has raised $58 million. In announcing the new influx of money, the company said it is generating more than…

Jon Steinlauf, one of a small number of Scripps Networks Interactive execs to rise through the Discovery ranks after the company bought Scripps, is rising again in the new Warner Bros Discovery. Steinlauf will serve as the future Chief U.S. Advertising Sales Officer for Warner Bros. Discovery, the company said. The…

Nickelodeon, in its first in-person upfront presentation since 2020, detailed a comprehensive plan to push its brand on screens as well as via real-life experiences, podcasts, music and other arenas. At Palladium Times Square (and via a livestream), execs laid out their strategy for media buyers. The last time they…

NBCUniversal is expanding its relationship with ad tracking firm iSpot, telling a room full of media buyers today that it will offer the company’s data as official currency starting at its May upfront. “Now is the time to embrace change,” Kelly Abcarian, EVP of Measurement & Impact for NBCU, declared during the…

UPDATED with closing price. Nielsen stock closed up 30.5% to end the trading day at a seven-month high after after a report the measurement firm is in advanced talks to be acquired in a $15 billion deal. After rising more than 40% at one point, shares finished at $22.85, their highest level since August 2021. In its…

Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch sees “a gap in the market for football” that the USFL can exploit when the professional league kicks off its inaugural season on April 16. The new operation controlled by Fox is unrelated to the 1980s iteration (one of whose teams, the New Jersey Generals, was owned by Donald Trump) that…

Peter Olsen, president of ad sales, sees a blended future for the ad-supported TV business, but one in which Nielsen will continue to play a central role. “Nielsen is still going to be the backbone of everything, as imperfect as it may be,” the exec predicted in an interview with Deadline ahead of the company’s…

As it continues to seek alternatives to Nielsen, the dominant TV ratings firm whose methodology has come under fierce industry criticism, NBCUniversal has signed a landmark deal with iSpot.tv. The firm will be added to NBCU’s roster as an official measurement provider, in addition to Nielsen. The “test-and-learn&#8221…