Skip to main content
Skip table of contents

NBCU Programmatic Video Guidelines and Specifications

This page provides creative guidelines and ad specifications for programmatic buying across NBCU’s streaming portfolio. In particular, it explains video specifications by rendition. Approved DSPs, creative hosts, and research vendors are also included, which apply to all programmatic deals.

(warning) Important notes

Multiple durations are not allowed within the same tag. All creatives of the same duration must be on one tag. For example, all 30-second creatives must rotate on the back end of one tag instead of being split out into several tags.

Stitched creatives are not accepted (e.g., we don’t accept two 15-second ads stitched together to create one 30-second ad).

Video specifications for all renditions

Supported ad lengths

The following ad lengths are accepted for programmatic buying:

  • Pre-roll – 6 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds

  • Mid-roll – 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, and 60 seconds

  • Peacock accepts 90 seconds upon request

Speak to your account representative for more information.

Spec

Guidelines

Dimensions

  • Mezz – 1920×1080 HD

  • High – 1920×1080 HD or 1280x 720 HD

  • Medium – 960×540 or 640×480

  • Low – 640×360 or 416×234

Aspect ratio

16:9 HD

Max file size

10 GB

File format

  • Mezz – MP4 or MOV

  • High – MP4

  • Medium – MP4

  • Low – MP4

Video bitrate

  • Mezz – 10-30 Mbps

  • High – 3.25-5 Mbps

  • Medium – 1-1.5 Mbps

  • Low – 340-460 Kbps

Frame rate

23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, or 30 fps constant frame rate

To ensure creatives are ingested and fulfilled in the most efficient and reliable manner, deliver content in native frame rate and scan mode. NBCUniversal doesn’t accept any pre-processing of creatives (i.e., apply telecine, inverse telecine, scan mode conversion), as pre-processing degrades the creative renditions, which can negatively impact monetization and viewer experience.

Scan type

Progressive only

  • Mezz – Apple ProRes 422 HQ or H.264 (Accepted profiles: High, Main, Baseline)

  • High, Medium, Low – H.264 (Accepted profiles: High, Main, Baseline)

Audio

  • 48 kHz sampling frequency

  • Must follow CALM compliance loudness average of –24LKFS +/-2

  • 2-channel

    • Without two tracks, audio playback could sound unevenly distributed, making the ads very loud or too quiet and not aligned with the video content

Audio bitrate

  • Mezz – Minimum 192 kbps

  • High – Minimum 96 kbps

  • Medium – Minimum 96 kbps

  • Low – Minimum 96 kbps

VAST

VAST 2.0 required

  • VAST rotations should not exceed 10 creatives per tag, and all tags must be secure HTTPS.

  • No VPAID allowed; VAST responses containing VPAID will be flagged and quality control will fail.

Ad countdown clock

  • Safe area is a 320×80 box for the countdown and copy.

  • Position box with the top left corner at X:128, Y:943; 128px from the left, 943 pixels from the top.

  • Baked-in captions are allowed; however, if sending creative with captions, please be mindful of the countdown clock positioning. If your text is left aligned, it will be blocked by the countdown clock.

Additional information

  • The mezz file required for NBCUniversal can also be used for Hulu, but creative targeted directly to Hulu must follow Hulu’s technical specs and acceptance policy.

  • NBCU cannot utilize Hulu’s programmatic offering; the “Third-Party Tags/Programmatic” section is not relevant.

  • For TV shows and movies, DDT (day, date and time) is not allowed.

  • Flighting, frequency capping, and targeting to be applied by NBCUniversal only to ensure contractual obligations and guaranteed delivery.

  • No dark dates are permitted at a client level. In the event no brands are live, evergreen creative will run until brands start running again.

  • Advertisers are required to refresh creative quarterly to avoid ad fatigue.

  • Audio must be included.

  • Automated creative blocking/filtering via digital verification vendors is not supported.

  • Files should contain the quality necessary to encode the appropriate version for a viewer’s environment across SSAI environments.

  • Play-ready files allow for flexibility across a multitude of devices & user bandwidth. Inclusion of multiple rendition files alleviate risk of buffering or poor quality creatives in non-mezzanine inventory and ensures an ad can always play out.

Approved DSPs, creative hosts, and research vendors for all deals

The following apply to all programmatic deals across Peacock Premier and Peacock AX.

  • Secure third-party impression tracking pixel tag (no script tag) accepted

  • Secure research tracking pixel tag accepted (not STB)

  • Secure HTTPS tags only

  • Comcast X1 requires tracking pixels to support dual-stack IPV4/IPV6 connectivity

  • Secure quartile tracking accepted

  • Peacock supports standard (non-JS) 1×1 survey pixels served via the node within a VAST 2.0 response

  • Peacock does not support survey nodes and any other interactive elements or implied interactivity. Contact your account representative for more information.

Certified DSPs

  • Adobe

  • Amazon

  • Amobee

  • Basis

  • Beeswax

  • Blockboard (PMP only)

  • DeepIntent

  • Display & Video 360 (DV360)

  • LinkedIn (PMP only)

  • Madhive (PMP only)

  • PulsePoint DSP (PMP only)

  • Roku OneView

  • Samsung (PMP only)

  • Simpli. fi (PMP only)

  • StackAdapt (PMP only)

  • The Trade Desk

  • Viant

  • Xandr

  • Yahoo

Certified for creative hosting

Hosted by DSP

  • Amazon

  • Basis

  • Beeswax (PMP only)

  • Blockboard (PMP only)

  • LinkedIn (PMP only)

  • Madhive (PMP only)

  • PulsePoint DSP (PMP only)

  • Roku OneView

  • Simpli. fi (PMP only)

  • StackAdapt (PMP only)

  • The Trade Desk

  • Viant

  • Xandr

  • Yahoo

Hosted by ad server

Campaign Manager 360 (CM360) instructions

  • Under Placement, go to Properties.

  • Open the Video transcode settings.

  • Turn the toggle ON for Control transcodes from the placement.

  • Turn the toggle ON only for the highest transcode. Turn the toggle OFF for all other transcodes.

  • Click Save.

    image-20241104-151548.png

Pre-approved third-party pixels for measurement

  • Adara

  • Adelaide

  • Adform

  • Adjust

  • Adobe

  • Adstra

  • Alphonso

  • Amazon (formerly Sizmek)

  • Atlas by Facebook

  • BlueKai

  • C3 Metrics

  • Cadent

  • Claritas

  • Comscore

  • Cuebiq

  • Data Plus Math

  • Deep Intent

  • DISQO

  • DoubleVerify

  • Dynata

  • Evidon

  • Exelate

  • Experian

  • Flashtalking

  • Foursquare (formerly Placed)

  • Gamesight

  • Google (DV360 & CM360)

  • Infillion (formerlyTrueX)

  • InMarket (formerly NinthDecimal)

  • Innovid

  • Integral Ad Science (IAS)

  • IQVIA

  • iSpot

  • Kantar

  • Kochava

  • LiveRamp

  • Lucid (Cint)

  • Marketcast (formerly Phoenix)

  • Method Media Intelligence

  • MetrixLab

  • MikMak

  • NCS (Nielsen Catalina Solutions)

  • Neustar

  • Nielsen

  • Prodege

  • Rockerbox

  • Samba TV

  • Tapad

  • Tatari

  • Truste

  • tvScientific

  • TVSquared

  • Upwave (formerly Survata)

  • Veeva Crossix

  • Visual IQ

  • XR Extreme Reach (formerly Extreme Reach)

JavaScript errors detected

Please note, these errors can depend on your browser setup.

If this problem persists, please contact our support.

Contact Support Close