In a TiVo World, Television Turns Marketing Efforts to New Media

IN A TIVO WORLD, TELEVISION TUNES MARKETING EFFORTS TO NEW MEDIA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Stuart Elliott]
Two deals that are scheduled to be announced today are indicative of the ways TV is headed in new directions to meet the new needs of marketers. CBS and TiVo will work together to make it easier for TiVo subscribers to sample four new series on the network's fall schedule. The agreement is the first time that TiVo, which is trying to change its image as being unfriendly to advertisers, and a broadcast network have teamed up for a sneak peak of a new series. Previous preview deals struck by the broadcasters have been off television, offering computer users a chance to watch streaming video on Web sites like msn.com and yahoo.com. The other agreement involves ITN Networks, a media sales company in New York with estimated annual billings of $300 million. ITN assembles customized national TV networks for advertisers from the commercial time it buys from local broadcast stations. ITN clients include Burger King, Capital One, Clorox, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Sara Lee and Sears. A group of media heavyweights -- Sony Pictures Television, Veronis Suhler Stevenson and the Zelnick Media Corporation -- is buying a majority stake in ITN, spending an estimated $200 million initially as part of plans to eventually invest up to $250 million. The group also intends to expand ITN beyond broadcast TV into other realms like cable and satellite TV, the Internet and video games. For all the focus on new media, “people will not stop watching television anytime soon,” said Strauss Zelnick, chief executive at Zelnick Media in New York, who will take the new post of chairman at ITN. The problem with television is that “for years, it’s been a one-size-fits-all medium, when advertisers want to reach targeted audiences more effectively,” Mr. Zelnick said. “We’re trying to look around the corner and benefit from where the media market is going in the future.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/05/business/media/05adco.html
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