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At NBCUniversal’s 2025 Upfronts, Seth Meyers didn’t simply chew the hand that feeds him; he served it to the advert global with an aspect of sarcasm. From roasting NBC’s baffling rebrand to dragging up Matt Lauer, his monologue uncovered the stress when skill turns into larger – and braver – than the community.
At this 12 months’s NBCUniversal Upfronts, Seth Meyers reminded everybody what occurs while you give a late-night host a mic and an autocue. You get laughs. You get gasps. And you get company executives nervously transferring of their seats whilst their very own skill publicly rinses their branding choices, reopens previous HR wounds and casually provides to rename his youngsters after a telecom sponsor.
Meyers, who hosts NBC’s 12:30 slot (however is it sounds as if open to “Tostitos presents Seth Meyers”), became the exhibit right into a comedy roast that was once each affectionate and acidic. The backdrop was once a slick company pitch about unified technique, streaming scale and franchise synergy, however onstage, Meyers gleefully dismantled that with punchlines that hit the place it hurts.
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‘Everything is for sale’
“If I could sell the naming rights to my kids, I would,” he informed the room of media patrons. “Verizon would be a great name for my seven-year-old, considering how often I scream at him, ‘Can you hear me now?’ My daughter’s name? Maybe it’s Adelaide. Maybe it’s Maybelline. Maybe it’s Ford F-150. I’m not picky.”
His goal? The corporatization of the whole thing, particularly leisure. “For the right price, Wicked Part 2 could be brought to you by Swiffer. Melt the witch with Aquafina. We will do the reshoots.”
The room laughed, however this wasn’t simply comedian reduction. It was once a pointy reminder of the stress underpinning fashionable media: the artists want the advertisers, however the advertisers infrequently fail to remember they’re strolling directly to a degree constructed through creatives who nonetheless understand how to make use of it.
SpinCo through some other call…
One of Meyers’s primary objectives was once NBCU’s new spin-off call, Versant – the moniker for a bundled portfolio together with USA Network, E!, MSNBC and the Golf Channel.
“When I heard the company was called Versant, I thought, ‘It’s official: there are no good names left,’” he deadpanned. “Imagine being jealous someone beat you to Tubi. ‘We wanted Roku. Snatched, faster than a Quibi.’”
“Remember to ask your doctor if Versant is right for you,” he added, leaning into the pharma-name vibe. “They’re so versatile, they’ll change it again when you don’t like it. But hey, it’s not about the name, it’s about quality.”
You may virtually pay attention 1000 branding decks being quietly closed in disgrace.
The Matt Lauer second
Then got here the road that drew audible gasps. Teasing a brand new NBC collection known as Dig about an archeological group that uncovers a long-buried secret, Meyers introduced: “Well, if it’s a long-buried secret at NBC, I’m guessing it’s Matt Lauer.”
It was once the primary time Lauer’s call had surfaced at an NBCU Upfronts since his firing in 2017. And it was once no slip – Meyers adopted it with a ridicule degree route: “I’ve been told to wrap it up here!
Chicago Pope and Bravo legal warnings
Elsewhere, Meyers riffed on Dick Wolf, one of the network’s most prolific producers: the man behind Law & Order, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med and Chicago PD. Referencing the election of a new Pope, he suggested a new drama Chicago Pope could be in the pipeline: “You know Dick Wolf’s agent is already on the phone with the Vatican saying, ‘Dick gets a cut!’”
And as for Bravo? Meyers warned the target market of greater than 25 Real Housewives in attendance: “It’s like when there’s a sign warning about strobe lights.” He proposed a brand new version set in South Boston: “Nobody’s drinking wine. They’re pulling Fireball bottles out of their purse. She’s a backstabber, literally. She stabbed her first husband in the back.”
A company embody or a PR headache?
To its credit score, or in all probability its peril, NBCUniversal let all of it journey. That’s the anomaly of the trendy Upfront: skill is the emblem and steadily larger than the platforms that lift them. When your headliners have sharper comedic instincts and extra cultural cachet than your whole community technique, you’re taking the hits in public and pray the patrons admire the honesty.
It’s a high-wire act. Yes, the jokes about Versant burned. Yes, the Matt Lauer line hit a uncooked nerve. But in an trade powered through relevance, Meyers’s monologue was once arguably probably the most brand-safe factor NBC did all day. It stated: we’re nonetheless humorous. We’re nonetheless self-aware. And we all know the variation between what performs in a boardroom and what in truth lands with audiences.
