Reviving the mainstay of earlier television

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

: As NBC looks to the future of its prime-time programming—shifting to a 52-week schedule from a calendar that runs from September through May—the network is borrowing a page from the past in asking advertisers to become involved sponsors of shows.

At a presentation, senior executives of NBC, part of the NBC Universal unit of General Electric, will describe how they are seeking to make advertisers into long-term partners rather than just sell them 30-second commercials. One example is a new deal with the Liberty Mutual Group insurance company that is centered on a pair of two-hour TV movies to be broadcast under the banner of the company—“Liberty Mutual Presents”, for example.

The movie plots are intended to complement a campaign for Liberty Mutual that was introduced in 2006 by Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos in Boston, which carries the theme, “Responsibility. What’s your policy?” The scripts, which Liberty Mutual will help develop, will discuss subjects like taking responsibility for one’s actions and deciding how to do the right thing.

NBC Universal will promote the movies on its various networks and websites as well as during NBC’s coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics and on Election Day in November. Liberty Mutual will advertise them, too. The first movie, called Kings, is likely to appear in early September, said Stephen G Sullivan, senior vice-president for communications at Liberty Mutual in Boston.