• The Hollywood Reporter, Tuesday, July 27, 2010 11:16 PM

DVR penetration approaching 40%, according to Nielsen -- and with more than 50% of ads skipped in DVR playback mode -- some network executives acknowledge that they're on-air promo efforts aren't as effective as they once were. Is it time for the broadcast networks to start promoting their offerings on one another's air? asks The Hollywood Reporter.

Five years ago, the idea of the broadcast networks promoting their shows on rivals' air would have been unthinkable. But now, at least one veteran TV audience analyst, Steve Sternberg, says the networks need to do it to remain competitively viable. "If ABC could, for example, promote a new show on CBS, NBC and Fox at the same time, it would be like advertising on the Winter Olympics every night," he said. "Network ratings could easily go up by 10%-20% if they consistently promoted themselves on the other networks."

Why in the world the broadcast networks refuse to promote one another's new shows is baffling. Fox's "The Good Guys" will fail not because it's a bad show, but because no one knows it's on. To refuse to reach your biggest target audience who is just sitting there, eagerly willing to buy your product (if they only knew it existed) makes absolutely no sense, says The Sternberg Report.

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