Can six Olympics advertisers come together to create an hour of the Paris extravaganza that runs commercial-free?
Coca-Cola Co., Delta, Eli Lilly & Co., Toyota Motor Corp., Visa, and Comcast’s Xfinity will sponsor a live hour of coverage of the Olympics Games Opening Ceremony that will air without the traditional interruptions from advertisers. In their place? Each member of the Madison Avenue sextet will have its logo appear in the upper right-hand corner of the screen during the program for approximately ten minutes, according to Dan Lovinger, president of Olympic and Paralympic partnerships for NBCUniversal, and those familiar markings will roll out in alphabetical order. A graphic will appear on screen at the top of the hour with all six sponsor logos, telling viewer that the hour is sponsored by them.
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NBC says the hour marks the first time that any part of the coverage of the glitzy Opening Ceremony telecast has run without the interruption of ads. “The Opening Ceremony will be packed with emotion and evoke a profound sense of unity for everyone watching,” says Lovinger. “Running commercial-free will help to amplify this grand spectacle.”
In truth, the logos are commercials — of a sort. But they may be emblematic of a new type of ad format that is gaining more traction as entertainment companies and TV networks are forced to step more carefully among consumers who move toward streaming-video environments, where a surfeit of traditional commercials is far less welcome.
Several media companies have tried to create new ads that trumpet how they eliminate other commercial interruptions. Amazon’s Fire platform occasionally offers users the chance to knock some dollars off of their Prime subscription, if they agree to stream a video from an advertiser like Coca-Cola. When a user of Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max opts to watch a new episode of the popular HBO drama “House of The Dragon,” they often are served up pre-roll ads from sponsors such as Adobe or meta Platforms that tell them the selection will run without further interruption — thanks to the ads they are watching ahead of the show.
While older TV viewers have long grown accustomed to watching dozens of commercials every hour, younger generations that primarily rely on streaming to get their video entertainment have not. Many streamers launched with a promise to never run commercials, or, if they couldn’t, to only serve very light ad loads. As more of these services seek new revenue, however, they have all turned to advertising — even Netflix, which previously scoffed at the notion
NBC’s ad-free hour won’t appear during primetime, when the network presumably seeks higher prices and projects a larger audience will assemble to watch. The hour without any commercial breaks will start at 1:30 p.m. eastern on Friday, July 26.
The idea of having an hour free from traditional advertising interruptions was intially raised by Molly Solomon, the NBC Sports producer overseeing the entire Olympics effort, She “knew that we weren’t going to want to break away from the action,” Lovinger says. “After we finalized various details, we worked with production and reached out to some of our longtime partnersof the Olympics to support this initiative and they were more than supportive.”
Indeed, viewers will have plenty of reasons to want to watch without distraction. A four-mile-long flotilla consisting of nearly 90 boats will carry thousands of athletes from more than 200 countries down the River Seine. NBC Sports’ Mike Tirico will host alongside Kelly Clarkson and Peyton Manning. NBC Sports’ Maria Taylor will be perched on the Team USA boat, while “Today” co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb will be stationed on a bridge along the route. Melissa Stark and Andrea Joyce will also report during the spectacle.
Traditional commercials may not air during this unique hour, but the advertisers taking part clearly hope it whets viewers’ appetites for their messages in other parts of the experience. “We’re proud of our 96-year long relationship with the Olympic Movement and look forward to bringing our portfolio of brands to fans throughout the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” says Robin Triplett, vice president of integrated marketing at Coca-Cola North America.
Could NBC try this arrangement in other types of programming? “Absolutely,” Lovinger says.
