NBCUniversal Showcases Unmatched Scale and Storytelling at 2025 Upfront at Radio City

As the lights dimmed the curtain raised on a 55piece symphony orchestra performing a medley of some of the most iconic advertising jingles in history including State Farmamp8217s amp8220Like A Good Neighboramp8221 Burger Kingamp8217s amp8220Have It Your Wayamp8221 Folgers Coffeeamp8217s amp8220The Best Part of Waking Upamp8221 KitKatamp8217s amp8220Gimme a Breakamp8221 and many more closing out with NBCamp8217s iconic threetone jingle The piece was followed by a hilarious musical number performed by Ted franchise creator and star Seth McFarlane called amp8220NBC Has The Shit Your Afteramp8221 taking playful jabs at other streamers and networks a great opener to lighten the mood and set the stage for the eventamp160amp160The MessageChairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment ampamp Studios Donna Langley took the stage to highlight the company39s collaborative approach and IPfirst strategy across its entertainment brands and platforms amp8220At a moment when attention is being pulled in multiple directions our ability to collaborate across the company and work together towards a common goal is our superpoweramp8221 said Langley amp8220And that starts with our franchisefirst strategy investing in durable stories and brands that inspire fans everywhere in a multitude of waysamp8221Langley underscored NBCUniversalamp8217s strength in building eventized programming through what the company refers to as its amp8220symphonyamp8221 strategy coordinated crossplatform rollouts designed to amplify its biggest moments The addition of NBA games to NBC39s programming lineup was another major focus with Langley calling it amp8220a weekly tentpole that maximizes the impact of the league across all our platforms and delivers a sizable audience watching in real time for our advertising partnersamp8221The NumbersMark Marshall Chairman of Global Advertising ampamp Partnerships made a dramatic entrance to remember After seeing him appear across iconic NBC sets like The Today Show and Law ampamp Order SVU being interrogated by Olivia Benson he descended onto the Radio City stage via Glinda39s giant bubble Decked out in a sequinned pink blazeramp160he made a dazzling quickchange out of Marshall took the stage and made a compelling case for NBCUniversalamp8217s premium reach and effectivenessamp8220There are three numbers I want you to remember about us this yearamp8221 said Marshall amp8220First our reach will grow to 286 million people a month And over 95 of that reach will be with your advertising And 99 of those ads are seen to completion Quite simply there is no other media company that can match those figuresamp8221Sports and live content remain cornerstones of the companyamp8217s strategy with Marshall touting Peacockamp8217s 7500 hours of sports content in the next year more than AppleTV Hulu Max Netflix Paramount and Prime Video combined amp822070 of all the programming across NBC is liveamp8221 he noted amp8220And why does live matter to you Because it delivers 21 more engagement for your brandsamp8221Charttopping hitmaker Snoop Dogg closed out the show with a performance featuring multiple hits including amp8220Gin and Juiceamp8221 and amp8220Drop It Likes Its Hotamp8221 commanding the Radio City stage all on his own Snoop will make his return as a judge on The Voice for season 28amp160amp160The HighlightsNBA Returns to NBC Industry legend and one of if not the alltime greatest player in NBA history Michael Jordan shared in a video message his excitement of the return and his own involvement as a Special Contributor amp8220The Voice of the NBAamp8221 Mike Tirico then followed sharing new features like ScoreCard an interactive bingolike game as well as interchangeable courtside and celebrity row POVsStars of recentlyrenewed St Denis Medical David Alan Grier and Wendi McLendonCovey Happyamp8217s Place star Reba McEntire and Chicago Medamp8217s S Epatha Merkerson who has been on the show since its premiere in 2015 boasted impressive viewership numbers across platforms on their respective seriesSaturday Night Live legends Tina Fey and Amy Poehler took the stage to share the series order of each of the upcoming projects Fey reunites with 30 Rock showrunner Robert Carlock for a mockumentary comedy series The Rise and Fall of Reggie Dinkins starring Tracy Morgan as a disgraced NFL legend who hires a young documentarian played by Daniel Radcliffe in his broadcast series debut to help restore his good name Poehler then announced Dig marking a reunion with Parks ampamp Rec creator Mike Schur which centers on a group of archaeologists in Greece who uncover a dark secret and are thrust into a global conspiracy Sounds dark but it is indeed a comedySNL39s Marcello Hernandez and Late Night host Seth Meyers each performed brief stand up sets poking fun at NBC with grace of course and joking on recent pop culture events a highlight being Meyers39 mention of a fake Chicago spinoff Chicago Pope Hernandez also poked fun at his all too relevant at least to me Hispanic upbringing before introducing talent from Telemundo NBCUniversal has always acknowledged the power and influence of the Hispanic market one of the fastestgrowing ethnic groups with a spending power of over 36 trillion equating it to the fifthlargest economy in the worldUpcoming Peacock Originals include thrilling drama All Her Fault starring Emmy and Critics39 Choice winner Sarah Snook The Miniature Wife starring Elizabeth Banks and Matthew McFayden horrorcomedy series The amp8216Burbs starring Keke Palmer and actionpacked The Copenhagen Test with MCU star Simu Liu and modern scream queen Melissa BarreraCritics39 Choice Awardwinning director Jon M Chu announced a special first look at the highly anticipated followup to Universal Picturesamp8217 750million hit Wicked set for a November release Wicked For Good a clever use of one of the second actamp8217s most touching songs The filmamp8217s stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande will also take part in a special concert event to premiere on NBC in November to lead up to the film39s release Chu teased that they will perform songs from the first film and teased the possibility of a number or two from the sequel along with appearances and performances from their costars and other special guestsamp160amp160In Closing Above All Else EntertainAs the company prepares to mark NBCamp8217s centennial next year the message was clear with premium IP deep consumer insight unmatched reach and a commitment to storytelling and innovation NBCUniversal is positioning itself as the premier partner for advertisers in the modern media landscapequotEvery person you see up here today every performance trailer or clip our teams have prepared for you brings us back to four little wordsamp8221 Langley said in closing amp8220The mantra that greets us every day at our headquarters in LA amp8216Above all else entertainamp8217amp8221Click the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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NBCUniversal Showcases Unmatched Scale and Storytelling at 2025 Upfront at Radio City

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