• by David Kaplan , April 27, 2005

At least one marketer is cutting deals on its own in this year's upfront without the aid of a media buyer: software maker Ontra Presentations has signed on several broadcast and cable networks to use its video applications to make their pitch to advertisers and agencies.

On Tuesday, Scripps Networks--the parent of cable nets HGTV, Food Network, DIY, and others--signed a deal with Ontra to help prepare its upfront presentation. The New York City-based software company has so far garnered business from ABC National Sales (one ad sales exec for the network, when asked to describe it, extolled the software as "Powerpoint on steroids"), NBC stations, Warner Brothers Domestic Television Distribution, FOX Broadcasting, Tribune Entertainment, and others.

The selling point of Ontra's software is the ability to group videos together into a presentation that includes at least five different networks--something that Scripps' salespeople needed, said Jon Steinlauf, senior vice president of ad sales for Scripps. The software also stores and manages a library of slides representing each network, giving salespeople access to each network presentation of the Scripps Networks without additional training.

"The Ontra presentation allows all of our salespeople to speak intelligently whether talking about the details of one program, network, or the value of working with Scripps in general," says Steinlauf. "With the Ontra Presentation, they can now cross-sell the networks, which translates into higher revenues for all of Scripps."

James Ontra, Ontra's co-founder and CEO, said in a statement that "Powerpoint is a horse and buggy in comparison," and that the company was in the process of signing up additional networks.