Comcast has unveiled a new platform that will make TV ad-buying accessible for small to medium-sized companies (SMEs), in a move that shows legacy media seeking to emulate its tech rivals.
The media conglomerate announced the development of Universal Ads at the CES conference on 6 January. The free, self-service platform is scheduled to launch in the first quarter of the year and will enable small- and medium-sized companies to advertise against premium video content on traditional TV’s streaming businesses.
Comcast has already signed a number of traditional media companies to the platform, including NBC Universal, Xumo, A+E, AMC Networks, DirecTV, Fox Corp, Paramount, Roku, TelevisaUnivision and Warner Bros Discovery.
Fighting the competition
Legacy broadcast media — in particular in the UK — has struggled with an advertising downturn over the past two years. In 2023 Channel 4’s CEO Alex Mahon said TV advertising was in ‘market shock territory’ and at its worst since the 2008 recession.
One reason that social media platforms have been insulated from the worst effects of the ad recession is that they are able to attract a long-tail of SME advertisers, thanks to their simple and relatively cheap ad-buying processes.
Shane O Leary, marketing director at Zoetis, highlighted this on LinkedIn: ‘One of the main reasons Google and Meta now own circa 50% of all digital ad spend is simple — they removed all the friction for SME advertisers. The most transformative thing these platforms did was to create intuitive, easy to use, self-serve platforms meaning any advertiser could plug in their credit card and be ready to spend in minutes.’
Comcast’s self-serve platform could now do the same and lure SMEs over to traditional media and premium content.
‘Universal Ads has a tremendous opportunity to steal market share from our competitors in a very unique and collaborative way that will fundamentally change the advertising landscape,’ Mark Marshall, chairman of global advertising and partnerships for NBCUniversal, told CNBC.
AI tools to facilitate ad production
Comcast also has plans to offer businesses free AI tools to assist with ad production.
In 2024, ITV also launched a gen AI ad production service to encourage SMEs to advertise on TV. It then aired two AI-created ads from Travel House and Sheepbridge Interiors, whose owner Dennis Niblock said they previously thought such a TV ad ‘was far out of [their] reach’.
Jason Spencer, business development director at ITV, also commented on the initiative in a press release: ‘Too often the cost of making an ad is a barrier for brands looking to breakthrough and test TV. By expanding our existing creative production services to include making ads with GenAI, we can democratise this further, and make the power of TV advertising accessible to all.’
Looking to the future, Marshall told CNBC that while Universal Ads will initially focus on streaming and SMEs, it could explore ‘linear and agencies as well’ in the future.
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