NBCUniversal announced it will use AI agents to enable the buying of premium video inventory across its digital and linear platforms.
The venture is in collaboration with independent agency RPA, supply-side ad server FreeWheel and agentic and research company Newton Research, whose agents will orchestrate cross-platform buying and optimisation in real-time for the entertainment giant.
FreeWheel and NBCUniversal are deploying AI sales agents for digital and linear respectively, and Newton Research has created buy-side agents with RPA.
This will take place across NBCUniversal’s vast linear and streaming inventory.
“This partnership illustrates the potential of agentic AI to hyper-streamline strategic media intelligence and transactions in service of business outcomes,” said Jim Helberg, CEO at RPA.
“By reengineering manual processes with operational efficiencies, we are enabling greater human focus and expertise on key strategic and marketplace nuances.”
Optimising Agents Across NBC
In a statement, NBCUniversal said with this new venture, an agency can execute and optimise a single premium video investment across platforms in seconds.
NBCUniversal also said its first agentic execution will feature a prominent brand’s investment in premium placements such as live football, which the media company says will be the first time AI agents are automating live sports inventory on linear television.
This example of agentic media buying illustrates a real-world transaction powered by Model Content Protocol (MCP) – an open standard that lets AI agents communicate with one another.
“Historically, delivering ads live isn’t easy, especially with large scale events like sports,” said Mark McKee, General Manager at FreeWheel. “Now, with our launch of true agentic buying – including for the most premium video inventory, live sports – something that seemed unimaginable just a short time ago is real, marking a milestone for FreeWheel, NBCUniversal, Newton Research, and RPA, as well as the industry.”
