NATPE: Branded Entertainment is topic A

The buzz among top media buyers at this year's annual TV syndication mart, NATPE 2005, won't be the new first-run shows starring supermodel Tyra Banks or Howard Stern sidekick Robin Quivers. Media buyers and syndicators in Las Vegas will be far more interested in branded entertainment, or deals that integrate clients' products and brands into TV programs, either as product placement or as part of the script.

This is the same topic that has been driving early talks between media buyers and the broadcast and cable networks, as well as the Hollywood studios that supply them: the prospect of getting in on the ground floor of an opportunity to integrate their products and brands into what could be the next big hit.

The problem, say Madison Avenue media buyers, is that the syndication business hasn't generated a big list of hits lately. The most successful shows launched over the past couple of years—NBC Universal's Ellen Degeneres Show and Buena Vista Television's Tony Danza Show—are getting ratings that would be considered respectable by cable-TV standards but are not exactly the kind of numbers advertisers expect from broadcast-TV hits.

“None of those were really a breakout show,” notes Brad Adgate, senior vice president and director of corporate research at Horizon Media, New York. “The last genuine hit in syndication would be Dr. Phil.”

Now syndicators and advertisers alike are looking to develop a wide array of branded entertainment opportunities. Already, off-network shows feature product placement technologies that can place brands in series that have already been produced. Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution has been leading some of those conversations for off-network shows like Friends and Drew Carey.

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