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NBCU to unify digital and TV buying with OnePlatform

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

January 8, 2020 | 3 min read

NBCUniversal has lifted the lid on its promise to unify ad buying across all video in TV and digital with a product called OnePlatform, setting out a three-year roadmap to take it to market.

The Comcast Building, NYC

NBCU to unify digital and TV buying with OnePlatform

The Comcast-owned firm will simplify the buying of its video inventory in a one-stop-shop across TV, digital and its Hulu and YouTube properties.

NBCU will offer buyers the chance to use custom audience segments, an advance upon the trusty audience demographics TV has been reliant on for decades. In the next three years, it will also build out planning, distribution and measurement tools for the product.

NBCU, like many legacy broadcasters, has been racing to unify it advertising operations. This will help it top-up reach as viewers continue to peel away from live TV to digital channels. Changes in the ad sales infrastructure are expected in the coming months to meet these goals.

Linda Yaccarino, chairman of advertising and partnerships of NBCUniversal, said: “The future of our business is simple: it's our audience. People are the center of everything we do. We know that viewers do not differentiate content by network, time or screen; instead, our fans see NBCUniversal as one giant home to the best stories, so that’s the mindset we’ll go to market with in 2020.

“With One Platform, we’re following our viewers’ lead. Rather than rejecting the changes in consumer behavior, we’re reflecting it. And rather than pushing back on disruption, we will use it to power our business and redefine the entire marketplace.”

NBCU claims it will create 110,000 hours of new original content and reach 97% of people in the US. This is topped up globally with its Sky partnership too.

The announcement comes as the broadcaster gears up for the Olympics where it is encouraging ad buys across TV and digital. This will help it recoup some of the $12bn it paid to be America's exclusive home of the Olympic into 2011 to take it through 2032.

NBCU earned a record $1.2bn in ad revenue during the last summer games in Rio de Janeiro and is hoping for a similar windfall in Tokyo 2020 where the time zones are slightly less accommodating for live viewing. This time around it has already breached $1bn in ad commitments with its crossplatform promise.

Earlier this year Dan Lovinger, executive vice-president of ad sales at NBC Sports, made the point that he doesn’t delineate between a linear viewer and a digital viewer. “Quite frankly, the athletes aren’t swimming any faster, jumping any higher or doing anything different on each platform.”

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