product placement

TV primetime branded product placements continue to slowly decline on broadcast networks. In the 2016-17 TV season, there were 4% fewer in-program placements — on-screen brands or products airing within a program — 4,346 versus the 2015-16 TV season, when there were 4,538 placements.

Product integration, in which products are blended into scenes, is hardly a new phenomenon. But the practice is becoming more prevalent in an era of commercial-free streaming and ad-skipping DVRs. For Hulu, the trend represents a quandary: how to keep its relationship with advertisers who help finance much of its programming, without alienating viewers fed up with regular commercials.

This week, Phil Dunphy twice makes the point that he’s a Realtor. The plot twist was part of a new advertising campaign by the National Association of Realtors. At a time of fear among advertisers that their messages are getting lost, it represents a tactic beyond the casual product placement of a soda can or car in the background of a television scene.

Green Arrow, the Atom and the Flash have trounced supervillains, saved countless lives and brought relative peace to their world. Now there’s a new task they are slowly accomplishing: Keeping advertisers’ products from showing up in their TV programs.

The immediate access that Hollywood studios have to actors, writers and filmmakers makes the process of creating branded content a relatively simple one, but it needs to be more than just a shot of someone drinking a product. “We have come to an intersection of media and content where marketing is content and content is marketing,” said Relativity Media’s Angela Courtin.

NEW YORK (AP) — The season finale of ABC’s comedy “The Middle” proved the power of corporate synergy: the network owned by the Walt Disney Co. gave prime-time attention to an idyllic family vacation at Walt Disney World on the eve of the summer travel season. The episode that aired Wednesday night showed the squabbling […]

The ad industry might borrow a page from this nerdy NBC sitcom. Like her character Liz Lemon, Tina Fey is perhaps an unrecognized genius … just one who had to work harder to make her smarts seem sexy.

During the holiday season, TV news is often rife with stealth commercials dressed up as traditional product-review interviews. Such product-friendly segments aren’t just potentially deceptive; they’re illegal, under a federal law that prohibits “payola” or “plugola,” as the practice is commonly known.

Coming off a strong upfront season — when advertisers buy commercial time before the season — the two major Spanish language television networks, Telemundo and Univision, are lining up more opportunities for advertisers wanting to incorporate their products into their telenovelas.

Companies that have pledged not to market unhealthy food and drinks directly to children may be turning to product placement on television shows instead of traditional ads to target youngsters, a new study claims.

A new, limited-edition flavor of Snapple is carrying the name of a TV show — CBS’s The Amazing Race — on its label, as well as being featured in show product placements and ads. The partnership also includes a co-branded contest hosted on Snapple’s Facebook site.

General Motors Co. plans to step up its spending on sponsorship of TV entertainment this year, driven by a growing interest in reaching more women who might be drawn to its long-time support of sports like baseball and golf. One project in development: landing a role for GM’s plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt in a reality show.