"A leading television producer and two major advertisers
have joined forces to present a live variety show with no
commercial interruptions. Instead, the advertising messages
will be incorporated into the show. The advertisers, which so far include Pepsi and Nokia
phones, are buying six hours of air time to create what the
program's producer, Michael Davies, called 'a contemporary,
hip Ed Sullivan show' for the youth-oriented WB Network,
part of AOL Time Warner. ... Although the network
commercial is far from extinct - advertising spending
increased for television in the last year - many executives
are concerned that a decline in the effectiveness of the
30-second commercial could rock the economic foundation of
broadcast television, which depends on advertising as its
main source of revenue. ... Donny Deutsch, the
chairman of Deutsch Advertising, said: 'The 30-second
commercial is not doomed, certainly not in our lifetimes.
Somebody is going to pay for TV. But advertisers have to be
more and more creative, whether with product placement or
something like they're doing with this show.' "