When it comes to cable-network Bravo, executives at NBCUniversal may be shouting “Encore!”
The home to reality-series staples including “Summer House,” “Watch What Happens Live” and “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island” is scoring new ad commitments in TV’s annual ad-sales market, according to four people familiar with the matter, and it is doing so while most of its basic-cable competitors are seeing Madison Avenue’s money drifting away.
“Do you need any cable networks besides maybe Bravo and sports?” asks one media-buying executive, who helps advertisers allocate their budgets for TV commercials.
“There is no doubt that reality programming is having a massive cultural impact right now, and brands are attaching themselves to the powerful reach and relevance it brings. At NBCUniversal, we’ve seen our shows – from ‘Love Island USA’ to ‘The Traitors’ to all things Bravo — drive significant advertiser interest season-over-season with record demand,” says Mark Marshall, NBCUniversal’s chairman of global advertising and partnerships in a statement provided in response to a query from Variety. “While it is still early in the negotiation process, this Upfront is signaling a continued strength in the unscripted and Bravo spaces for us.”
During the “upfront” sales market, U.S. media companies try to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory ahead of the their next cycle of programming. Five executives familiar with recent negotiations say ad budgets for this year’s market are definitely smaller, and only sports programming — particularly NFL games — carries “must-have” status.
Traditional cable networks do not. Indeed, these executives say advertisers and TV sales executives appear to be at an impasse over cable networks focused on entertainment. These networks are viewed with less enthusiasm in the age of streaming, because more consumers are abandoning their cable subscriptions in favor of streaming services. Media buyers have pressed for rollbacks in rates on cable, and the media companies have resisted.
Their reasoning? New data added to Nielsen earlier this year has suggested that more people are watching cable than previously expected. With that as ballast, TV companies have refused to accept demands for “rollbacks” in cable rates, telling media buyers they will be happy to negotiate with them again later in the year in what is known in the so-called “scatter” market, when advertisers buy ad time much closer to when it needs to run.
Bravo, on the other hand, is faring better, with one buyer likening it to late-night from a few years ago, when advertisers were willing to pay higher rates to reach the younger audiences that reliably tuned in. That is not the case any longer, and ad commitments to wee-hours TV have slumped noticeably.
“There’s a lot of demand there,” says this executive about Bravo, who notes that “they’ve got so many sponsorships of different programs and events. That one is pretty unique.” Advertisers are being charged higher CPMs — a measure of the cost of reaching 1,000 viewers that is central in upfront discussions — when they put their commercials on Bravo, the buyer says, but “it doesn’t matter what they charge us for Bravo. Our clients continue to come back.”
Key to Bravo’s success in keeping hold of advertising is a willingness to weave advertisers into programming. Many of its best-known properties embed sponsors’ products and messages into the story at hand. The most recent season of “Top Chef” — the series’ 23rd — featured appearances by Bosch , Cracker Barrel, Duke’s mayonnaise; Graza olive oil; Finish dishwasher detergent; wines from Josh Cellars and Morton salt, among others. November’s “BravoCon” live event had the backing of State Farm, T-Mobile, Wayfair and Wendy’s, along with other Madison Avenue stalwarts.
NBCU is also securing ad alliances for some of the unscripted programs it streams on Peacock, according to a person familiar with the matter. The eighth season of “Love Island USA” features 36 different customized vignettes developed for sponsors, including M&Ms, which has a reputation in advertising circles for not taking part in such stuff. NBCU has also seen a spike in interest in “Summer House,” this person says.
Bravo may be enjoying a rush while others grapple more directly with current conditions. Under a two year deal with Versant, which was spun off from NBCU earlier this year, NBC must manage sales for Bravo as well as entertainment-focused cable networks like E! and Oxygen. Versant declined to offer immediate comment on the progress of its networks, which also include USA, CNBC and MS NOW, in the upfront market.