SAN JUAN, PR – NBCUniversal is doubling down on its integrated approach to live event advertising, and according to James Kreckler, senior vice president of digital media sales at the media company, it all starts with the content.
Content as the foundation for advertising success
“The way NBCUniversal maximizes effectiveness and reach for an advertiser and live events really starts with the content,” Kreckler said in this interview with Beet.TV contributor Rob Williams at the Beet Retreat San Juan.
Kreckler pointed to NFL Sunday Night as a model: “We program that content as one, we promote that content as one, we sell that content as one, regardless of activation channel.”
Blending traditional TV and programmatic precision
That unified strategy reflects a broader push at Comcast-owned NBCUniversal to merge the power of traditional TV with the precision of programmatic advertising. The company has spent five years building the infrastructure to support dynamic ad insertion across live programming.
World Cup success sets stage for the Olympics
The first major test came during the FIFA World Cup two and a half years ago—and it was a success. Since then, programmatic capabilities have expanded across all of NBCUniversal’s live events, culminating in a landmark effort during the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Linear TV still matters in a digital world
Yet Kreckler also said a singular focus on digital targeting would be shortsighted.
“If you’re forgetting about [linear], you’re going to miss a lot of reach,” he said in this interview with Beet.TV contributor Rob Williams at the Beet Retreat San Juan. “So we always look at it holistically and how they can work together.”
Peacock’s growing role in the One Platform strategy
That philosophy is embodied in NBCUniversal’s “One Platform Total Audience,” which allows advertisers to target audiences across both streaming and linear channels. The initiative is designed to reduce waste and duplication—something data shows is already minimal. NBC prime has less than 10% duplication between streaming and linear viewers, and Bravo’s duplication is even lower at 7%.
Maximizing reach without overloading viewers
“This is how you really maximize reach and maximize engagement,” Kreckler said. “You’re not missing any of the key consumers you’re trying to reach.”
A major piece of this vision is Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming platform. When it launched, the team behind it followed three core strategic pillars: be ad-supported from the start, lead in ad innovation, and maintain the lightest ad load in the marketplace.
Innovative ad formats and light ad loads drive engagement
“We didn’t want to take the same TV ad load and just put it in streaming,” Kreckler said.
Peacock now features over 25 different ad formats and limits ad time to just five minutes per hour, with no more than three ads in any given pod.
That light ad load, paired with personalized targeting and creative formats, is producing strong engagement.
“Eighty-five percent of our consumers are taking the ad load model,” Kreckler noted. “We think we got it right for both the consumers and the advertisers.”
NBCUniversal’s future: Scale, relevance and performance
With 99% of its live events now enabled for programmatic buying, NBCUniversal is positioning itself as a leader in next-generation ad experiences. By fusing premium content with advanced targeting and a user-friendly experience, the media giant is offering advertisers a way to connect with audiences at scale—without compromising relevance or performance.
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