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The Los Angeles Times is notoriously strapped for cash. Ever since Sam Zell brought its parent, The Tribune Company, private in December 2007, the paper's staff has been torn up by layoffs and cutbacks.
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Valerie Everett Newspapers |
Today the newspaper featured an unprecedented front page ad for NBC's "Southland," which premieres tonight. It's like product placement but in a newspaper, blurring the line between fact and fiction.
Below the fold of today's LA Times ,the far left column runs a story under the headline, "Southland's Rookie Hero," under a tiny NBC logo and "advertisement" written in lower case. Filling the bottom of the page, adjacent to this advert-article is a real ad for the TV show.
This ad takes up prime real estate for the newspaper; they must have been able to charge a pretty penny for it. And apparently it was the paper's idea, part of a larger strategy to spice up its ad offerings. But the LA Times must have known this blurring of the line would raise eyebrows and draw criticism. But the paper and the Tribune Company is focused on generating revenue above all else. The question is whether it will backfire, discouraging readers and other advertisers. One thing's for sure, the paper probably shouldn't go any further over this line.
On the other hand, this is nothing but wise on NBC's part. It's easier than ever to skip ads, thanks to TiVo, and people are increasingly jaded about tuning them out. And why not appeal to the very city that the TV show is about. It seems to me that it's tougher to introduce new primetime shows mid-season, when people aren't expecting them, than in the fall, when everyone is ready for the new programming.
Questions? Comments?
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