NBC Universal sees $4 bln in upfront ad deals

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Media conglomerate NBC Universal expects to book some $4 billion in advance advertising commitments across its properties for the coming 2007-08 broadcast season, its top executive said on Thursday.

"As a company we will write about $4 billion in business this upfront," NBC Universal President and Chief Executive Jeff Zucker said during a company investor conference. That would be slightly more than a year ago.

Zucker said the impact from last-place audience ratings at its NBC television network had already been factored into earnings.

"We've already taken the big hit," he said. "It's already in those numbers and we believe there is only upside going forward."

NBC is controlled by General Electric Co.. Vivendi has a minority stake.

In the media company's first investor conference in nearly two years, Zucker said NBC Universal had expanded well beyond its television network to deliver entertainment and information across many various outlets and devices.

He highlighted the company's cable properties -- including the top-ranked USA Networks and Bravo -- as "the biggest and most important part of our portfolio."

The company has also seen demand for its programs on new forms of media distribution, estimating that 50 percent of the most popular shows downloaded on a given day from Apple Inc.'s iTunes entertainment store hailed from NBC Universal.

"New forms of distribution have always been additive" in the media business, Zucker said.