NBC Upfront: Peacock Secures $2.3B for Primetime Entertainment

NBC is wrapping its upfront in a different way than its broadcast-network brethren, securing more -- not fewer -- advance advertising commitments for its fall schedule.

The NBCUniversal-owned outlet expects to notch approximately 15% more in ad commitments for its primetime entertainment programming than it did in 2013 according to a person familiar with the situation. That could mean NBC secured around $2.3 billion from advertisers for its 2014 schedule, which excludes sales around “Sunday Night Football” and the Olympics. When adding sports and the rest of the broadcast-network schedule to the mix, the person familiar with the network suggested NBC had notched approximately $2.5 billion in advance ad commitments for the fall.

The company notched about $6 billion in commitments for its entire media portfolio, the person said, encompassing broadcast, digital and cable. CBS and ABC have both largely completed their upfront sales process, with media-buying executives estimating both networks lost volume for 2014.