NBCUniversal secured $500 million in upfront ad commitments for its streaming platform Peacock, the company revealed today. 

It's the latest indication of the shift of ad dollars from linear TV to streaming during this year's upfronts, when networks look to secure a bulk of their ad commitments ahead of the new season. 

Disney said it saw more than 40% of its total ad commitments in this year’s negotiations go toward digital and streaming. And in June, WarnerMedia said it secured $80 million in upfront commitments during last year's negotations for its streaming platform HBO Max ahead of the debut of its ad-supported tier earlier this year.  

Peacock's $500 million commitment was part of an upfront haul that NBCU CEO Jeff Shell described in June as, “the strongest upfront I think probably in the history of NBCUniversal." 

Mark Marshall, president of advertising sales and partnerships at NBCU elaborated on this by noting that not since the Second World War has a paused economy come roaring back so forcefully.

NBCU netted $1.5 billion in total digital ad commitments during the upfronts, Marshall says, which is up 67% over last year. This was certainly buoyed by the streaming platform, which in the first few months of operation, saw more than 15 million users. NBCU's goal is to have between 30 and 35 million active users by 2024.

NBCU's upfront was driven by the resurgence of pandemic-stricken categories including entertainment, pharmaceuticals, technology and automotive, each of which Marshall anticipated to grow “at least $1 billion apiece in the marketplace.”

Ad commitments from retail and financial players have even exceeded where they were pre-pandemic in the 2019 upfront season, Marshall says, adding that a strong rebound in the travel category has translated to twice as many commitments from that space now versus two years ago.

NBCU had plenty of ad inventory to offload heading into the upfronts, including commercial time in the postponed Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Super Bowl LVI, and the Winter Games in Beijing. While Marshall declined to provide details on the state of the ad marketplace for the Tokyo Games, he says the Super Bowl is 85% sold out of commercial inventory.