Expansive Partnership to Include Co-Creation of Editorial Programming, Shared Across NBCU News Group’s Various Broadcast, Cable, Digital, Streaming and Audio Platforms
Joint Partnership to Take Festival Beyond the Mountains, Amplifying Sponsorship Reach Opportunities with Cross-Platform Media Packages
Contacts: Jon Purves
Senior Media Relations Manager
The Aspen Institute
jon.purves@aspeninstitute.org
Richard Hudock
Senior Director of Communications
NBC News
richard.hudock@nbcuni.com
Oct. 27, 2021 –– Beginning next year, NBCUniversal News Group will become the exclusive media partner of the Aspen Ideas Festival. The 2022 Festival is set to take place from June 25 -July 1 in Aspen, Colorado.
The multi-year, multi-platform partnership includes an editorial and programming collaboration to jointly create engaging and informative festival content and even further extend the reach of the festival’s on-the-ground events, partners and sponsors to audiences across NBCU News Group’s wide-reaching broadcast, cable, digital, audio and streaming platforms, including Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service.
The partnership will expand and amplify the reach opportunities for festival sponsors by jointly curating specialized on-the-ground sponsorships and sales packages, including NBCU Sales creating and selling cross-platform media packages across linear broadcast, digital, streaming, social, and more.
In addition, top anchors and journalists from NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC and Noticias Telemundo will drive conversations during the festival through marquee interviews, fireside chats, and expert panel discussions throughout the festival’s programming.
The Aspen Ideas Festival takes place each summer in Aspen, Colo., as the Aspen Institute’s signature public convening. Since its inception in 2005, it has gained an international reputation as an essential gathering that engages with the most significant ideas and issues impacting society today, spanning the arts, science, culture, religion, philosophy, economics, and politics. Attendees engage with a unique global spectrum of thinkers, writers, artists, policymakers, business leaders, teachers, and other fascinating experts .
More Americans watch NBCU News Group than any other news organization in the world and is the #1 digital news organization in America. NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC’s leading and award-winning television news broadcasts, streaming networks, podcasts and digital extensions are the premier destinations for breaking news, in-depth analysis and informed perspectives.
“NBCUniversal News Group will be a transformational partner for the Aspen Ideas Festival, bringing a remarkable mix of talented reporters and journalists, and a broad reach that will enable even more people to engage with the Aspen Institute,” said Dan Porterfield, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute. “This partnership is an exciting opportunity to reimagine what’s possible with the Festival and with public programming across the institute, and we look forward to announcing more details soon.”
“We look forward to building upon the Aspen Institute’s track record of agenda-setting discussions through a partnership that will expand the reach of Aspen Ideas Festival to audiences as only NBCU News Group can,” said Cesar Conde, chairman of NBCU News Group and an Aspen Institute trustee. “Together, we have created an exciting opportunity to pair these premier events with the high-impact journalism NBCU News Group is known for. Journalists across NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC and Noticias Telemundo will lead sessions and bring them to audiences across our broad portfolio of broadcast and cable programs, as well as our robust digital, streaming and audio platforms.”
“We are looking forward to producing an exciting event that embraces people’s enthusiasm to reconvene in-person at the Festival, and also the opportunity to dive into substantive issues through enhanced broadcast and digital distribution of our programming”, said Kitty Boone, vice president and executive director of the festival. “Working with the NBCU News Group team to produce the Aspen Ideas Festival will allow us to refresh our program as we emerge from the pandemic and, importantly, reach diverse audiences across the United States with innovative ideas about our future.”
Public passes go on sale for the 2022 Aspen Ideas Festival and Aspen Ideas: Health in January 2022, along with more details about programming and speakers. The 2022 Festival marks a return to full-scale large, publicly accessible events in Aspen, Colo., after organizers successfully and safely hosted a smaller gathering in summer 2021 with robust COVID-19 protocols in place.
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