WB Plans a Show-mercial

The Frog has a new trick to try to keep a tight hold on those viewers with the attention span of a gnat. It plans to zap the zappers.

The WB, which markets itself to a young audience, intends to air a variety show this summer with no ad breaks--providing at least one reason not to flip channels, or program your TiVo. But here's the rub: The commercial sponsorship will be seamlessly interwoven into the programming.

In other words, expect to see comedians relaying their jokes on their Nokia mobile phones or singers swigging an icy Pepsi to soothe their throats.

On Friday, the network had "no comment" beyond stressing that the deal was not "totally signed." But a spokesperson confirmed that media reports describing the show by the New York Times and the Associated Press were accurate.

The concept has been devised by British producer Michael Davies (the mastermind behind Who Wants to Be a Millionaire), who has already secured the participation of, yes, Pepsi and Nokia and expects to add several more.

Speaking to the Times, Davies describes the live hour of performance and promotion as "a contemporary, hip Ed Sullivan show." The show's working title is Live from Tomorrow but might change to Live from Right Now.

Davies says he intends to stage the show in New York, because "I think in a way we're finding ourselves going back full circle to the 1950s." He's aware that this concept harkens back to the early days of New York-based television, when shows like Kraft Television Theater and The Philco Television Playhouse not only sponsored the show and ran commercials, but also incorporated related activities like eating cheese and watching TV into the scripts.

Such shows ultimately bit the dust for a number of reasons: The networks felt they could make more money selling 30- or 60-second commercials to a variety of advertisers; they felt the sponsors were exerting too much influence over the shows' content; and they were embarrassed by the quiz show scandals, which revealed an extreme example of the sponsors' manipulation.

However, those '50s shows did include commercial breaks, unlike Davies' idea. The advent of TiVo and other personal recording systems that can edit out the ads has made networks nervous, even though such devices are currently in use in only about 1 million homes. For some time, product placement within shows has been steadily increasing. Labatt, for instance, is providing the beer on set for Fox's The Best Damn Sports Show Period, a program that reaches out to the most notorious channel zappers of all--coach potato men with jock fantasy lives. Survivor and American Idol are other prime examples of rampant in-show plugs.

Davies thinks blatant is the way to go. "Viewers hate it when they think you are trying to be deceptive with them, sneaking advertising into scenes. We're going to be completely open about it on our show and hopefully completely creative," he tells the Times.

As with any infomerical Davies' Diplomatic Productions will have to buy the airtime from the network. It's expected to cost from $600,000 to $1 million for each hour. In addition, the company will pay all production costs.

Davies says the Pepsi logo will be visible on the variety-show stage. Content might include, for example, a reality-style segment in which a rapper works as an intern at Nokia headquarters. Movie companies could be charged for having their star appear promoting a film.

"The question will then become: Will we be bold enough to tell a movie company that we're advertising your movie on our show so you have to pay for it?" Davies ponders.

No doubt questions will now also be asked by the people who make the traditional 30-second commercials and by viewers who don't want the whole of network television to feel like an infomerical. (Though, of course, they do have the option of just zapping the whole thing.)

Undoubtedly Davies' plan will prove lively debate for the Television Critics Association, currently gathered in Los Angeles, who will be quizzing the WB executives at the network's presentation Saturday.

Stayed tuned.