Comcast Play for NBC Universal Is a Bet on Future of Advertising†

Union Would Allow Experiments in DVR, Addressable Campaigns

Advertising Age, November 9, 2009 — Comcast Corp. is looking to take a 51% stake in NBC Universal, surely a sign of the durability of cable networks, since NBCU owns a bunch of top-tier ones. But there's more going on here: It's also a calculated move to seize the reins in shaping future TV-viewer behavior and a bid to assume the lead in figuring out how to advertise to the new-media consumer.

Disney’s TV Unit Will Make Short Videos Available on YouTube

New York Times, March 31, 2009 — Walt Disney’s television division became the latest media company to make a distribution deal with YouTube on Monday, saying that it would share short-form content with the world’s largest video Web site.

NBC Taps Leading Women to Offer Advice to Marketers†

Lazarus, Vieira, Bartiromo to Help Clients Market to Women

Advertising Age, January 12, 2009 — The principals of the latest marketing agency: Maria Bartiromo, Meredith Vieira, Tori Spelling and Susan Lyne.

They, along with 22 other estimable names, including Ogilvy & Mather Chairman-CEO Shelly Lazarus, aren't forming an agency in the traditional sense, but will be part of a "panel" offering marketing and general business advice to NBC Universal and its clients on how to reach women. The group will also blog, write and appear on air for the media company's women-oriented properties and contribute to a quarterly newsletter, "Power of the Purse," covering marketing to the demographic and the latest female trends. The panel will convene for the first time Feb. 10. In effect, it could become the most powerful female-focused agency in the country.

Jay Leno to prime time: Why NBC is doing it

Entertainment Weekly, December 10, 2008 — Everyone knew the face of late-night TV would change when Jay Leno left The ­Tonight Show, but prime time as well? On Dec. 9, NBC announced that the reigning king of late night will stay put at the network by hosting an untitled new gabfest at 10 p.m. every weeknight, starting next fall. Leno, who is set to step down from The ­Tonight Show on May 29, will pack the first-ever Monday–Friday prime-time talk show with signature bits like those corny “Jaywalking” segments and a stable of A-list guests — which could set up a potential booking war with his successor, Conan O’Brien. (“I am absolutely thrilled that Jay is staying at NBC,” O’Brien said on his show Tuesday, although there are certainly drawbacks to the arrangement.)

Digital Sales Surpass CDs at Atlantic

New York Times, November 26, 2008 — Since MP3s first became popular a decade ago, music industry executives have obsessed over this question: when would digital music revenue finally surpass compact disc sales?

For Atlantic Records, the label that in years past has delivered artists like Ray Charles, John Coltrane and Led Zeppelin, that time, apparently, is now.

NBC's Olympic Test: Counting All the Games' Viewers†

Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2008 — NBC Universal plans to use its coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games to launch a new system for measuring viewership across an array of different media, including video-on-demand, cellphones and the Web, as well as traditional television. NBC hopes the new system — which will be offered to advertisers at the start of the new fall season — will give it ammunition to persuade advertisers to buy ad time on newer media such as VOD and cellphone video.

NBCU, Nielsen Team on New Sales Measure†

Partnership Will Cull Data from TV Ratings, Online Video Streaming, Consumer Activity

Advertising Age, June 2, 2008 — NBC Universal and Nielsen have decided to collaborate on new sales measures using data from TV ratings, online video streaming and consumer activity based on specific industry categories. It's just the latest step by a TV network to cobble together information for advertisers that goes beyond the typical reach-and-frequency ratings that have been the benchmark of the business for decades.

The two companies said their alliance is designed to "move advertising sales beyond traditional demographic data" and promote the development of new sales and marketing measures.

Push in Online Car Shopping†

NBCU Is Hoping Stake in DriverTV Snags Ad Dollars

Wall Street Journal, March 17, 2008 — In an effort to snare more of the automotive advertising dollars migrating online, NBC Universal is buying a sizable stake in DriverTV, a Web site and video-on-demand channel that specializes in videos aimed at car shoppers.

NBCU is paying about $6 million for a 35% stake in DriverTV, which has about $8 million in annual revenue, according to people familiar with the matter. Currently all DriverTV's ad revenue comes from car makers, but the company, which is partly owned by the TV- and ad-production firm Radical Media, is hoping eventually to attract advertisers from other auto-related industries such as insurance.

NBC Making a Clean Start in a House of Mixed Media

After it bought the Web site iVillage.com last year, NBC Universal bragged that it had landed a digital darling. But few people are boasting about iVillage now.

New York Times, August 13, 2007 — After it bought the Web site iVillage.com last year for $600 million, NBC Universal bragged that it had landed a digital darling. The women-focused Internet business was a perfect fit with the “Today” show, executives said, and would turbo-charge their online efforts.

GE-NBCU Invests in Healthline, Gaming†

Busy Peacock Equity Fund Shows a Penchant for Advanced Ad Applications

Advertising Age, July 17, 2007 — Putting at least $250 million where their mouths are, NBC Universal and GE Commercial Finance are placing bets on the web 2.0 world, having teamed up on a joint venture, recently rebranded the Peacock Equity Fund, to help identify young digital companies that could help them play in the advanced advertising space.