Bottom Line Communications™

KVVU Product Placements

   BOTTOM LINE: Although the phenomena has not seemed to have reached Kansas City TV stations yet, other local stations are inserting product placements in their broadcasts in order to generate revenue.
   Broadcasting & Cable examines some of the product plugs showing up on local TV stations. 06-02-2010


As stations search for a sustainable business model, product placements keep seeping into local TV
By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/31/2010 
    When McDonald’s contracted to have its branded iced coffee cups on the set of KVVU Las Vegas’ morning newscast in 2008, the fast-food behemoth got way more bang for its buck than it had bargained for.
   The Las Vegas Sun wrote about the product placement play, as did The New York Times a day later.
   Pundits weighed in on the ethics of working product plugs into a newscast; KVVU countered that the cups—which were actually props as opposed to real cups—appeared in the 7-9 a.m. segment of the program, when the news was lighter, and did not affect content.
    KVVU is now taking the branded integration concept several steps further.
    The Fox affiliate introduced an on-set bar on its live show More Jan. 1, featuring bar stools and a flat-screen TV sponsored by burger chain Sonic, and a month later added a green room sponsored by the bottled-water brand Dasani. Both locales—and their sponsors—figure prominently in the 9 a.m. program.
    “The bright red bar is the hot spot for celebrity interviews, cross-fire chat and the backdrop for ‘question of the day,’” read KVVU ad materials.
    More recently, KVVU added a segment where More guests spin a Bally slot machine for charity, with Bally getting generous plugs.
    (LINK TO ENTIRE STORY...)