• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, June 2, 2010

If, as they say, TV networks' most valuable marketing tool is their own airwaves, then why don't they make more use of that tool?

The answer, in part, is that keeping the number of network promos around the same levels lets the network keep the same levels of inventory to sell to paying advertisers. Who wants to cut commercials -- really?

 But the problem is on a bigger scale: Broadcast ratings aren't what they were. Every year there's about a 5% to 8% reduction in the gross rating points. This affects paying advertisers and TV marketers who use their own airwaves to sell their product line of new and existing TV shows. 

Veteran media agency executive Steve Sternberg wonders why the broadcasters don't make like the cablers and cross-promote their shows on each other's networks, especially since the last two decades worth of broadcast erosion has seemed to reach critical mass now.

Looking more broadly, it makes sense broadcasters would follow another step first taken by the cable networks. Recently networks have grabbed retransmission fees from cable operators, which is akin to the cable subscribers fees cable channels garner (though still not yet at the same per sub pricing levels).

Still, not all cablers work the same way when it comes to ads promoting TV shows; many shy away from running day- and time-specific messages. For TNT's "The Closer," for example, what's allowed might be a general brand campaign. Few networks want to give viewers a specific call to action to leave their network --  say, 9 p.m. on Sunday.

With time-shifting of TV shows rising, however, all this may change, and day- and time-specific TV show promos may now seem less harmless. Perhaps all networks could charge a bit higher premium for these entertainment spots, akin to what occurs with theatrical movie studio commercials. 

Problem is, even if broadcasters open up to the idea of cross-promoting each other's shows, there's the issue of TV marketing/promotion costs. Few networks in recent years have boosted their marketing budgets. The cost of paid marketing platforms -- radio, outdoor, and the Internet, specifically, which have gotten most of the networks' marketing dollars -- hasn't risen much. So it would be hard for TV marketing executives to convince their bosses to spend more marketing money -- as well as giving it to a competitor, no less.

Perhaps network relationships will evolve because of the same logic seemingly at work now for all things digital -- Hulu, for example, where News Corp., NBC Universal, and Walt Disney are co-equal partners: They're not only searching hard for what their future will look like, but it seems they need each other's help as well.