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Three of Blackpool's treasured attractions are being assessed for future repairs and investment. The latest computer technology is being used to safeguard the future of the seaside's historic Victorian piers.

NBCUniversal and the NFL said the Peacock Holiday Exclusive matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday will include the league’s first-ever commercial-free fourth quarter, promising “a groundbreaking fan experience” with a reduction in standard NFL ad load of over 40% resulting in more than 12 minutes of additional game-related content. 

William Earl The Variety Entertainment Summit returns to CES on Jan. 10 at the Aria featuring a day of panels and keynote conversations.

NBCUniversal is shaking up its ad sales division with the hire of a newly promoted Roku executive.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor In an unexpected Madison Avenue shake-up, NBCUniversal has poached Alison Levin, a senior advertising executive at Roku, who will take on one of the media giant’s most senior sales roles. Levin, who was named a president of NBCU’s ad-sales unit, will report to Mark Marshall, global chairman.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Krishan Bhatia, a key architect of NBCUniversal’s recent forays into new kinds of advertising revenue, is leaving the company, and has informed his direct reports of his decision to exit at the end of 2023. Bhatia helped develop new revenue systems and infrastructure at NBCUniversal’s ad-sales unit, which for a time was very vocal about its efforts to strike e-commerce and data partnerships with advertisers.

Mark Marshall, a nearly 10-year veteran of NBCUniversal, has been promoted to Chairman of Global Advertising and Partnerships.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Mark Marshall, the executive who led NBCUniversal’s ad-sales outreach on an interim basis, will take the role officially. Marshall, who was given oversight of NBCU’s ad-sales after former leader Linda Yaccarino departed abruptly to take the CEO role at X, the social-media company previously known as Twitter, will report to Mark Lazarus, chairman of the company’s media operations.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor In a tough moment for the economics of TV, NBCUniversal went to market with a greater emphasis on big tentpole events and a little less on individual TV shows and specific networks. The Comcast-backed media conglomerate believes advertiser interest in larger properties such as the 2024 Olympics, a planned celebration of the 50th season of “Saturday Night Live” and its annual “BravoCon” helped buoy its efforts in TV’s annual “upfront” market, when U.S. media companies try to sell the bulk of their advertising inventory ahead of their next cycle of programming. NBCU expects the volume of commitments it sold this year to be flat with its efforts in 2022, according to a person familiar with the matter — no small feat when advertisers have been wary of spending amidst spikes in inflation, fears of a recession and the complexities of strikes by writers and actors in Hollywood.

Donna Langley elevated to NBCUniversal Studio Group chairman and chief content officer, overseeing the company’s film and television studios. “We’re excited to evolve our partnership with Steven and cement our creative legacy together that has resulted in so many iconic Universal films over the last half-century,” Langley said in a statement.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBCUniversal is, for a quick moment, taking “Live, from New York” to a lounge found in a beach-side resort in France. Fresh episodes of “Saturday Night Live” have been in short supply in the U.S. due to the Hollywood writers strike, but NBC’s late-night mainstay could generate some interest on Wednesday at the Cannes Lions advertising festival. In a showcase led by NBC News’ Willie Geist, “SNL” executive producer Lorne Michaels will hold forth with cast members Bowen Yang, Chloe Fineman, Mikey Day and Ego Nwodim as part of a broader bid by NBCUniversal to get Madison Avenue to align itself with the program at it nears its 50th season in the fall of 2024.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large From the moment an animated “Ted” opened the NBCUniversal upfront, voiced by Seth MacFarlane prior to the writers strike, it was clear this was going to be an abbreviated event. For starters, until a week ago, this was still going to be Linda Yaccarino’s Radio City Music Hall show. But with Yaccarino off running Twitter (“Ted” making a crack about the crazies now at Twitter earned the biggest inadvertent laugh of the morning), it was up to Mark Marshall, NBCU interim chairman, global advertising & partnerships, to make the pitch to advertisers. “In all of our conversations leading up today, regardless of client or category, there has been one constant…this is going to be a very important year for your businesses,” Marshall said, counting 32 pharma launches, 60 auto releases (including 46 electric vehicles) and over 100 movie releases (“which puts us back to pre-pandemic levels”) this year. “We know this is a competitive year. And here at NBCUniversal, we are built for these moments.”

Even without a once-in-a-generation strike or a Twitter bombshell, next week would already pose a challenge to media companies making their annual upfront pitches to ad buyers in New York.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBCUniversal shook up its ad-sales executive suite with just days to go before the company is slated to present its next slate of programing to advertisers. Linda Yaccarino, the company’s longtime chairman of advertising and partnerships, is leaving the company.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The 50th season of “Saturday Night Live” isn’t slated to kick off until the fall of 2024. But that doesn’t mean NBC has to wait until then to start lining up sponsors. NBCUniversal intends to start talking to advertisers about the possibilities in the industry’s annual “upfront” sales session, says Mark Marshall, the company’s president of advertising sales and partnerships, in a recent interview. NBC could start calling attention to the landmark season during its telecasts of the 2024 Summer Olympics from Paris, he says, which means the media company is eager to start discussing ideas soon. TV’s “upfront,” when U.S. networks try to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory, is expected to kick into gear next week, when NBCU and its competitors hold a series of glitzy presentations for Madison Avenue. “Saturday Night Live” generated approximately $74,7 million dollars in ad sales in 2022, according to Vivvix, a tracker of ad spending. That figure represents a 12% dip from the nearly $85.3 million “SNL” generated in 2021.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor “Night Court,” the NBC sitcom that was recently rebooted, enjoyed its heyday after its debut on NBC’s Thursday-night schedule in 1984. But NBCUniversal is hoping the retooled comedy will lead Madison Avenue into the future. When the original program launched, built around star Harry Anderson as a non-traditional metropolitan judge, NBC sold ads against the debut broadcast of each episode as well as a rerun later in the season. Now, says Mark Marshall, the executive recently given wider oversight over NBCUniversal’s national ad sales, the company is selling broad-reach ads attached to the linear debut of each episode as well as targeted advertising that appears adjacent to the series when it streams on Peacock.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Linda Yaccarino, who spends most of her day trying to sell advertisers on NBCUniversal commercial inventory, will take on a new task of trying to do something similar with actors and artists. Yaccarino was named global chair of YMU, a British talent-management group, replacing Harvey Goldsmith, who left the company in 2021. Yaccarino will retain her role at NBCU, where she is global chairman of global advertising and partnerships. “Linda’s appointment shows the scale of ambition for the Group – her value, knowledge and expertise will enable us to deliver an even better service to our clients and turbo charge our international growth,’ said Mary Bekhait, YMU’s global CEO, in a statement.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorA new NBCUniversal advertising executive is taking on the task of tackling advertisers to link themselves to such sports properties as “Sunday Night Football” and the soon-to-launch USFL.Peter Lazarus will take the lead on selling ads behind the bulk of NBCUniversal’s sports programming, part of a gradual overhaul of the company’s work behind connecting Madison Avenue with some of TV’s biggest and most-watched properties.Lazarus has been named executive vice president of sports ad-sales, taking up responsibilities previously held by Dan Lovinger, a longtime NBCU ad-sales exec who has been assigned to focus more intently on the company’s efforts behind Olympics advertising. Lovinger was elevated to president in January and will lead Olympics ad-sales efforts as NBCU works harder to fulfill a commitment it has made along the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, pledging to offer long-term deals to partners for TV, digital, and live event advertising, as well as brand activations and associations with Team USA.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorKickoff for Super Bowl LVI is still days away, but NBC has scored at least one touchdown.NBC has sold out all of its inventory for the Big Game, scheduled to be broadcast on Sunday, February 13, from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. NBCUniversal said in a statement Thursday that it has sold every in-game unit available across NBC, Telemundo and all digital platforms including Peacock.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDan Lovinger, a veteran ad-sales executive who has helped supervised outreach to advertisers for NBCUniversal venues ranging from prime-time TV shows to “Sunday Night Football” and the Super Bowl, is getting a new assignment.Lovinger will oversee all efforts aimed at getting advertisers to sponsor NBCUniversal’s Olympics and Paralympics broadcasts, a pillar of the company’s programming strategy representing hundreds of hours worth of some of TV’s highest-priced inventory. Lovinger, who had been an executive vice president, has been elevated to president, and will report directly to Linda Yaccarino, NBCU’s global chairman of advertising sales and partnerships.

Dade Hayes Finance EditorEXCLUSIVE: NBCUniversal, which has made a series of moves aimed at keeping pace with the increasingly complex video viewing marketplace, has just released its first One Audience Trends Report.The 15-page report draws on company data and highlights the ongoing changes in viewer behavior.