LAS VEGAS—In the run-up to the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January where a variety of new digital ad technologies will be on display, NBCUniversal unveiled a suite of new technology and data products that its says will open up new audience opportunities and help reimagine digital advertising with breakthrough formats, better real-time measurement and attribution.
“Our company was built on innovation, and as we enter into NBC’s 100th year, we are pairing the strength of our storytelling with the power of our technology to enhance the consumer experience and prove real-time impact for brands,” said Mark Marshall, chairman, Global Advertising & Partnerships, NBCUniversal. “Premium video is more valuable to advertisers than ever, and with these new innovations, we are providing solutions clients have been asking for, backed by the power of NBCUniversal’s entire cross-platform ecosystem – setting a new industry standard for success.”
NBCUniversal’s latest product suite includes LIVE Total Impact, Performance Insights Hub, and AI-powered Contextual Targeting in LIVE.
NBCU said these solutions are designed to turn engagement into real outcomes, moving audiences from attention to conversion across every platform.
NBCU described LIVE Total Impact as the industry’s first cross-platform tool designed to leverage the real-time viewership of live tentpole moments and extend that engagement across NBCUniversal’s full ecosystem, delivering the right ad, to the right person, at the right time.
The official launch follows a successful beta rollout during Sunday Night Football - where telecom and retail brands saw higher brand lift through targeted re-exposure across NBCU platforms.
The company said it will now expand and scale LIVE Total Impact to even more advertisers across such major February events as Super Bowl LX, the Milan Cortina Olympic Winter Games, NBA All-Star Weekend, and additional live events throughout 2026 such as Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
In terms of the Beta testing during Sunday Night Football, NBCU said it delivered the following results:
- +10% lift in awareness and memorability compared to control
- +77% higher search engagement vs competitive streaming benchmarks
- +1.8x greater website visitation compared to industry benchmarks
- Retargeted viewers exposed to in-game ads visited the website 6.8x more than those who were not exposed, showing strong lower-funnel impact.
In terms of Contextual Targeting in LIVE, NBCU reported that it allows, for the first time, advertisers to target Live programming in real time.
More specifically, NBCU said Contextual Targeting in LIVE is a breakthrough AI-powered tool that continuously scans live content to ensure an advertiser’s ad or creative automatically aligns with the most relevant moments as they unfold live. Initial VOD beta tests showed brands saw significant increases in engagement and favorability, demonstrating how AI can match brand messages to relevant themes and boost audience interaction, the programmer reported.
In an early beta with a luxury brand NBCU reported the following results:
- +27% higher enjoyment of the creative vs. baseline
- +14% agreement that surrounding content enhanced the brand’s message
- +10% higher Unaided Brand Awareness vs. baseline
- +38% perception of the luxury brand as environmentally responsible
- +56% higher search engagement vs. competitive streaming
- By automating brand suitability and real-time context, this capability gives advertisers greater efficiency, agility, and precision, optimizing every second of live media investment to reach audiences at the exact right moment of authentic connection.
NBCU described the new Performance Insights Hub (PIH) as a proprietary intelligence platform providing advertisers of all sizes with a unified view of campaign delivery, audience insights, and full-funnel, in-flight performance.
Built on NBCUniversal’s One Platform Tech Stack, PIH integrates first- and third-party data through standardized schemas and automated workflows with partners including Dynata, EDO, Kochava, LiveRamp, MarketCast and VideoAmp.
Upcoming integrations will support turnkey outcomes measurement for foot traffic and purchase data, plus category-specific integrations to power CPG, Pharma and more, NBCU said.
NBCU said this new tool moves marketers beyond static post-campaign reporting enabling in-flight reporting and insights that improve performance across awareness, engagement, and conversion metrics.
NBCU also reported that it is launching Arrival Ads on Peacock, which allows brands to own the first impression as soon as viewers enter the platform.
In addition, NBCU is expanding Peacock’s premium Pause Ads into the programmatic marketplace, enabling advertisers to access this high-impact format through Programmatic Guaranteed deals.
The programmer reported that it is the first major premium AVOD publisher to offer a full-screen programmatic Pause Ad, which it said will bring more scale, flexibility, and automation to a placement that has already proven effective in direct-sold campaigns.
Pause Ads appear when a viewer pauses a programming. NBCU said Pause Ads have already proven to be a powerful format, driving a +68% lift in ad memorability, underscoring the format’s ability to capture attention and enhance brand impact. Additionally, campaigns with Pause Ads have driven a +106% lift in foot traffic for advertisers.
In terms of the upcoming Olympics, NBCU said that partnerships with Amazon DSP, FreeWheel Buyer Cloud, Google Display & Video 360, StackAdapt, The Trade Desk, Viant, and Yahoo DSP, will allow it to open up a private marketplace with biddable access for advertisers of all size.
Additionally, following its successful launch at CES 2025, Universal Ads will serve as the first-ever, exclusive ads manager for NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Milan Cortina Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, offering advertisers even more opportunities to invest in NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Games.
More information about these and other new capabilities are available here.
