ABC, Ad Agency to Develop TV Shows

The ABC television network and media agency MindShare North America on Monday said they would develop television shows together in a deal that would allow advertisers to weigh in early on the programs they sponsor.

ABC, a unit of Walt Disney Co., and MindShare, a unit of advertising conglomerate WPP Group, said they would first focus on creating scripted series for family audiences, with the two companies sharing development costs.

The venture could put a new twist on product placements and sponsorships, strategies being embraced by advertisers in the face of eroded audience ratings and technologies such as TiVo that allow viewers to skip commercials and watch programs according to their own timetables.

Critics have said such strategies could blur too much the line between entertainment and marketing.

According to the deal, MindShare clients would advertise on series developed and produced through the partnership.

ABC would keep distribution rights for the programs.

“This gives us a chance to have a collaborative relationship with our major clients early in the process so that we know ... we will meet the needs of the clients,” said Alex Wallau, president of ABC. “This could be an important part of a portion of our prime time programming.”

This year, MindShare hired former CBS Entertainment President Peter Tortorici, who will work with ABC and MindShare clients on program development. MindShare handles media planning and buying accounts for companies such as Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Unilever.

Marc Goldstein, president and chief executive of MindShare North America, said the partnership’s primary goal was to create television shows that would draw the audiences advertisers crave.

“The door is open reasonably wide for anything we think is going to be compelling. The key is that it is scripted,” he said, citing ABC’s “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” as an example of a successful format. “We’re not focusing in on reality [TV].”

Goldstein also said the venture with ABC would give clients better access to cross-marketing opportunities and product integration in the course of television shows.

Although a comedy born out of the partnership might use clients’ products on its set, such as kitchen appliances, “that doesn’t mean that we’re going to create a kitchen set simply for the sake of having a kitchen set,” he said. “Whatever we do we want to be as seamless and organic as possible.”