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NEW YORK - With its eye on The Learning Channel's popular "Trading Spaces" reality show, ABC television approached Sears, Roebuck and Co. in the summer of 2003 with an enticing proposal.

Rather than just inserting a few products into the new show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC was eager to follow an emerging model for advertising known as "branded entertainment."

"This was a case of working with an advertiser, understanding their needs, and then seeing whether that fit with a program we were looking to do," said Dan Longest, ABC's senior vice president for integrated marketing and promotion. "As a network, we're not in the business of just selling product placements. With Sears and `Home Edition,' we're selling their brand but we're also extending our own."

Because corporate advertisers have become increasingly unsure that 30-second commercials reach an audience large enough to warrant their high prices, companies now seek a consistent and recognizable presence in the shows themselves.

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