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		<title>NBC's out-of-home upfront: Good or bad for digital signage?</title>
		<description>Discuss NBC's out-of-home upfront: Good or bad for digital signage?</description>
		<link>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage</link>
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			<title>Isabel says:</title>
			<link>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-467</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Hi there! Thanks a lot for sharing this extremely interesting article! This news is definitely a terrific one! Come visit my web site dedicated to free avi to mp4 converter http://freeavitomp4converter.com/]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Isabel</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:36:02 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-467</guid>
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			<title>Bill Gerba says:</title>
			<link>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-466</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Pat: way to take a stand :) In all seriousness, you're absolutely right: whether or not there is a group out there who's more "qualified" to set the rules, NBC had both the means and the motive to do it themselves, and now they have, so everyone else will have to play second fiddle. Capitalism is brutal that way. On the other hand, there's certainly still plenty of room for others to participate, and I think there's plenty of room for other formats for ad buys as well. Just because NBC has taken this particular stand doesn't mean that others will have to as well.
David: I think you're right, and in particular, if you read some of the commentary at Adweek and MediaPost about the actual contents of the "upfront," it was more of a glorified sales pitch to see if NBC could convince a bunch of advertisers and media planners that their conglomeration of nine different networks (using different screens, different media formats, different content formats and different venue types) could be packaged up and sold like TV. As I mentioned in the blog post, it may be a while (if ever) before we find out how successful they were, but to your point, they made plenty of headlines trying it out.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Bill Gerba</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:07:22 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-466</guid>
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			<title>David Weinfeld says:</title>
			<link>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-465</link>
			<description><![CDATA[With its recent digital out-of-home upfront, NBC has planted its flag in the sand that is the digital signage industry. While I don't believe that NBC had its upfront to reap any large financial reward, nor do I really think that they expected it to, but what they have done is become the first major media company to have an advertising sales upfront for digital out-of-home networks. And, sometimes, being the first matters more than doing it exactly the right way.
In my opinion, this article typifies the primary reason why NBC had the upfront to begin with...to generate exposure for its digital out-of-home assets and to be looked at as a forward thinker in this space by the media community at large. The press exposure that the event has garnered, from the likes of Ad Age, Adweek, Reuters, and the New York Times makes it successful for NBC...regardless of the amount of advertising revenue the event generated.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>David Weinfeld</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:55:53 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-465</guid>
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			<title>Pat Hellberg says:</title>
			<link>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-464</link>
			<description><![CDATA[There's much to digest regarding NBC's up front. I'm going to waffle, 100 %, by saying that on the one hand, NBC wouldn't waste their time staging an up front if they didn't think digital signage was a viable advertising/consumer communications alternative to conventional media. Which is a good thing. On the other hand, you and others make viable points regarding the big boys, rather than the current players in the industry, dictating the future of the business. It's the golden rule, isn't it: them that's got the gold, makes the rules. Unfortunately, if we can't sort it out, others will sort it out for us. Econ. 101. You know my opinion: shoppers will tune out/ignore a steady parade of broadcast spots. Eventually, nobody watches and nobody wins.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Pat Hellberg</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:23:38 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-464</guid>
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			<title>Jeremy says:</title>
			<link>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-463</link>
			<description><![CDATA[To answer the "good or bad" question, I think we have to look a little deeper into how the space is being sold. Are they selling in terms of a TV-style playlist, where you are buying specific time at specific venues, or is this more like a pre-buy commitment with the details to be filled in later based on other factors?
Ideally, NBC would be using the second approach, perhaps even leaving some prime space available for later sale through a bidding process. Marketers who buy a lot of space in the upfront would then get the first opportunity to bid on other inventory when it's made available.
Granted, I'm not really familiar with the upfront process in general, so perhaps this whole idea of flexible rates and commitments is impossible. But something tells me NBC is planning to innovate at least a little bit with their digital signage upfront, capitalizing on some of the unique aspects that the medium has to offer.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Jeremy</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:54:54 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-463</guid>
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			<title>Rob Gorrie says:</title>
			<link>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-462</link>
			<description><![CDATA[I would love to be able to live blog this upfront as it's generated a ton of good attention.
My guess, however, is it's invite only.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Rob Gorrie</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:34:13 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-462</guid>
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			<title>Bill Gerba says:</title>
			<link>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-461</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Hey Phil,
Obviously you and NBC disagree as to whether it makes sense or not :)
On the other hand, while I have no idea what kind of investment it takes to set up an upfront, if it's cheap, I suppose there's no reason for them to NOT give it a shot (aside from looking ridiculous if they can't sell much of the inventory, of course).]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Bill Gerba</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:47:17 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-461</guid>
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			<title>Phil Contrino says:</title>
			<link>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-460</link>
			<description><![CDATA[As someone who works in both television and digital signage, I have a mixed reaction to this news.
I think it's a smart move on NBC's part to experiment and stray from traditional ad techniques. As a network, their shows appeal to a younger, hipper audience (they recently picked up a program called Quarterlife that first aired on MySpace) so I'm not surprised that they'd make this kind of decision. I think it's a big step towards better reaching their target audience.
I definitely think NBC's actions could cause ABC and CBS to react very quickly and move in the same direction, especially if NBC -- who consistently finishes behind them in ratings -- starts to gain some ground. What'll be more interesting to see, is whether cable networks such as HBO and Showtime -- whose programming is starting to really give the broadcast networks a run for their money -- will invest more money into this platform. If that happens, then we'll know that NBC made a bold move into the future.
From the digital signage perspective, I think the idea of having upfronts doesn't really make sense mainly because, as well all know, there is no concrete way of measuring this industry yet. I think NBC needs to make everyone involved aware that digital signage is not black and white and that uncertainty allows for more flexibility which in turn makes it an appealing ad medium.
So while I think the general idea is a very smart move on NBC's part, I'd give it a much weaker endorsement on the digital signage end just because I agree with a lot of the negative aspects that have been brought up.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Phil Contrino</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:30:06 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://www.wirespring.com/30-legacy-blog-digital-signage-insider/644-nbc-s-out-of-home-upfront-good-or-bad-for-digital-signage#comment-460</guid>
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