NBCU Kicks Off In-Person Upfront Week With Showstopping, Star-Studded Spectacle

NBCUniversal came in like a wrecking ball for the first in-person upfront week presentation since 2019. The network kicked off the 2022 upfront week at Radio City Music Hall on Monday morning with nonstop spectacle. Miley Cyrus performed "Wrecking Ball," Kelly Clarkson belted out "Queen of the Night" and there was even a giant BravoCon dance number featuring Andy Cohen and dozens of "Bravolebrities." "There is such an overwhelming emotion of excitement, to be the kickoff host of an upfront week that celebrates our industry. We take that responsibility of leadership really seriously because our company was built top to bottom for and with advertisers," Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s chairman of global advertising and partnerships, told Adweek. Throughout the event, NBCU championed its content, technology and partnerships, putting the focus on its entire portfolio, which includes two broadcast networks, eight cable brands, local stations in English and Spanish, theme parks, film studios and even Fandango. The company touted its NBCUnified first-party data, which brings together 200 million unique IDs across its entire offering. NBC’s Fall Schedule Features Quantum Leap Reboot, George Lopez Sitcom "We're the No. 1 TV portfolio in total audience, period," NBCU CEO Jeff Shell told attendees. Though the company often focused on its entire portfolio, Peacock received some special attention. Pumping up Peacock According to the company, Peacock has surpassed 60 million monthly active users, and the service is on pace to stream more than 5 billion hours of content in 2022, which is double 2021's numbers. Peacock will also become the home for Universal movies after they leave their theater window. And NBCU wasn't afraid to take shots at other streaming competitors. "I'll only be here for a minute or two, or as it's known in our industry, a CNN+," Jimmy Fallon joked, poking fun at Warner Bros. Discovery's quickly shuttered service. As a whole, NBCUniversal said its viewers see more than 100 billion hours of NBCUniversal content every year, and it's hoping to increase that further by doubling its content investment across TV, film, sports and news in 2022. However, the star of the presentation was truly the whole portfolio and the strength of NBCU programming. The event was broken up by genre, and NBCU made sure to bring out all of its talent to represent each segment. During the unscripted show segment, Nick Jonas and Shakira promoted their own upcoming series, Dancing with Myself. Pete Davidson came out during the scripted show segment to introduce Edie Falco as the actor playing his mother in his Peacock show, Bupkis. The cast of Dick Wolf's various Law & Order and Chicago shows—including Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni—helped introduce scripted dramas; the Sunday Night Football crew, including Cris Collinsworth and Mike Tirico, set the table for the return of their No. 1 primetime series; and Lester Holt appeared to present the network's news offering and praise its coverage on Ukraine. Susan Rovner, chairman, entertainment content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, promoted even more talent on the way, with new NBCU programming coming from Rian Johnson, Tina Fey, Sam Esmail, Lorne Michaels and more. Prior to the presentation, NBC unveiled its fall schedule, featuring a Quantum Leap reboot and new George Lopez sitcom. Bring on BravoCon However, the biggest moment of the presentation came during the live events segment, where NBCU created a showstopping song and dance for its upcoming BravoCon fan event in October, bringing out cast members from Real Housewives, Below Deck, Top Chef and more. Seth Meyers later joked that there were so many Bravolebrities in town that New York City ran out of wine. With so much going on, it was hard for individual programs to stand out during the event. Trailers for new series Quantum Leap and Lopez vs. Lopez were somewhat overshadowed by the spectacle of everything else. However, that may have been NBCU's plan all along. Throughout the event, executives emphasized that working with NBCU gives advertisers access to its entire One Platform, not just one network. "We run it as one business. We manage it as one business. We program it as one business," Shell said. In March, the company emphasized at its One22 ad tech-focused event that it's committed to enhancing the ad experience, and that was also on display during its upfront. NBCU further mentioned new ad innovation formats, nine of which it introduced shortly before its May 16 presentation. The company has introduced more than 60 commercial innovations to date, which make people 88% more likely to remember a brand and 79% less likely to change the channel, according to NBCU. “The ultimate goal of commercial innovations is to make the ad experience as enjoyable as the content experience itself,” Josh Feldman, global chief marketing officer, NBCUniversal advertising sales and partnerships, previously told Adweek. Of course, diving into the specifics of the ad formats wasn't on the forefront of NBCU's agenda for the first in-person upfront in two years. The show was all about spectacle and making a splash, which it certainly did from Clarkson's opening notes to Cyrus sending everyone home. "I would name all 60 ad innovations … but we promised you only five minutes of ad time or less," Yaccarino quipped onstage.