NBC Taps 100th Anniversary to Hook More Advertisers With Tentpole Events

The network is 100 years old. The commercials, however, are new. NBCUniversal is trying to expand the sponsorship model it used for the 50th anniversary of “Saturday Night Live” in 2025 and customize it for its coming celebration of a century of its flagship broadcast network. If sponsors like it, the company will have a tested system of garnering ad support that it can tap as it continues to seek out tentpole events, including, potentially, the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, and the 75th anniversary of “The Tonight Show” in 2029, to win the big audiences advertisers continue to demand from broadcast, even in the streaming era. “Clients are not asking for more places to put their messaging,” says Alison Levin, a president at NBCUniversal’s ad sales and partnerships unit, during a recent interview. “They are looking for meaningful ways to show up when audiences are engaged.” Popular on Variety Allstate, Capital One, Purina Dog Chow, Smucker’s, Volkswagen and Xfinity have all signed up to sponsor the event, which will air as a three-hour special on December 10 and feature a litany of celebrities and famous figures, all at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. The sponsors don’t have to wait to get noticed. Already, Capital One has launched a commercial that features Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T in their roles as Olivia Benson and Fin Tutuola from “Law & Order: SVU.” Benson even turns to the camera at the end of the spot and utters the financial-services company’s famous slogan, “What’s in your wallet?” “One of the things that we seek in general is just opportunities to participate in cultural moments that we think people are going to care about,” says Marcy Brye, a senior director at Capital One who works on media partnerships. What’s more, she says, “the opportunity with NBC 100 is so rare.” A case in point: Capital One’s new ad appeared during NBC’s recent Emmys telecast, right after a pre-taped sketch in which Taylor Swift made a cameo during an “SVU” spoof that featured many of the series major cast members. “We knew our ad placement was scheduled right after a special segment, though we didn’t know the specifics in advance,” says Brye. Indeed, because the 100th anniversary special won’t be duplicated, like an annual awards program, or last for weeks, like a soccer tournament, advertisers likely feel assured their backing of the extravaganza will get noticed. The goal, says Levin, is to create “bespoke, high-touch moments” that can be seeded across top NBCU programing ranging from live sports telecasts to popular programs such as “Love Island” or “The Traitors.” Some of the sponsors must have liked what they experienced when they supported the “SNL” 50th anniversary. Allstate and Volkswagen took part in the advertising around that program, with Allstate backing a commercial vignette that paired its popular advertising character Mayhem (played by actor Dean Winters) with the Please Don’t Destroy comedy trio that became popular though taped vignettes on “SNL.” Volkswagen, meanwhile, ran a commercial that had “SNL” veterans like Fred Armisen, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig repirse their characters from the show’s popular “Californians” sketch. “That work performed so well for us,” says Rachael Zaluzec, chief marketing officer and executive vice president of consumer experience for Volkswagen of American. “It gave us so much visibility.” The automaker will launch a new commercial tying it to the anniversary in November, she says, and recreate sets from NBC programs at the L.A. Auto Show in that same month. These collaborations often take months to forge, and NBC first announced it would seek bigger sponsorships tied to the anniversary in January of this year. The company may be following the steps it took previously. For the SNL 50th anniversary, NBCU started discussions months ahead of schedule. In March of 2023, “SNL” executive producer Lorne Michaels made a presentation in Studio 8H, the program’s longtime home at NBC’s New York headquarters, to around 100 advertisers about what to expect from the anniversary. At the time, NBC, sketched out plans for a series of retrospectives around “SNL” as well as at least one documentary about the program. Comcast’s Xfinity service is attaching itself to a countdown clock that shows up during important NBC moments that lead up to the special. Look for the timer to turn up during NBC ‘s coverage of the Thanksgiving Day Parade as well as ahead of the actual extravaganza, says Julie Scelzo, chief creative officer for Xfinity and Comcast, which is also the parent of NBCU. The countdown graphics help to “build the anticipation,” she says. “It gives the audience something to pay attention to.”