Adweek’s Jason Lynch caught up with NBCUniversal sales boss Linda Yaccarino for a look at the ad sales picture for the new fall season.
Yaccarino oversees advertising sales for all NBCU networks, including MSNBC and CNBC and the NBC News division. With hit broadcast shows, a fast-growing cable news channel, the Super Bowl on NBC, the 2018 World Cup on Telemundo, and 2018 Winter Olympics across the networks and platforms, Yaccarino will oversee more than $10 billion in ad revenue for the company over the next year.
One of the most high-profile new programs will air mid-mornings on NBC, launching 5 weeks from today.
You sold Megyn Kelly’s new 9 a.m. show in the upfront. Did you sell that hour separately instead of as part of the four-hour Today block?
For the most part, no, but for some specific sponsors who want to come in and have a dedicated exposure there, we can have those conversations. Megyn joining that daypart has been a real boon for us. There’s been many advertisers interested in the 9 o’clock hour, and I suspect that will grow once she debuts in September.
There were reports that you pushed for the 9 o’clock rate to be the same as Today’s earlier hours.
Yes, I read some numbers that were a little bit overstated. But of course, we always look to get the value from the marketplace for a time period that’s going to have such a big spotlight on it.