A Lone Sponsor for a Longer ‘Nightly News’

A LONE SPONSOR FOR A LONGER 'NIGHTLY NEWS'
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Stuart Elliott]
A week from tonight, viewers of the “NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams” will be able to watch more news — and fewer commercials — as a result of a sponsorship deal with the Philips Electronics North America Corporation. The sponsorship is part of a weeklong, $2 million agreement between Philips and the NBC Universal division of General Electric that includes “Today,” two cable shows and a feature on NBC’s digital weather channel. The deal is the latest element in a campaign that seeks to drive home the Philips advertising theme “sense and simplicity.” “By taking the interruptions out,” said Eric M. Plaskonos, director for brand communications at Philips, “it’s our demonstration of the gift of simplicity.” Philips will be the only national advertiser during the “Nightly News” broadcast, Mr. Plaskonos said, running three commercials that will total one minute and 15 seconds. A typical “Nightly News” carries 14 national commercials totaling seven minutes. NBC News plans to add one or more longer segments to the newscast to take advantage of the reduced commercial load.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/27/business/media/27nbc.html
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