• by Wayne Friedman , November 12, 2010

PIC Media Group -- the longtime seller of national 10-second TV commercials for a number of syndicated and cable TV shows -- and GreenLink Networks, a local TV and social media marketer, have merged.

GreenLink provides TV stations with access to local advertisers through an on-air rewards program. It has 17 stations across the country in the program, including in Kansas City, Tampa, Dallas and Houston, reaching 15 million homes and 40 million TV viewers.

Local TV viewers enter codes that appear or are mentioned in local programming, such as TV newscasts. Viewers are then directed to online areas, such as a station's Web sites, and are rewarded with points that can be use with local advertisers. Consumers can redeem points through sweepstakes for trips, gift cards, electronics and more.

Steve Berger, president and chief executive officer of PIC Media Group, stated that the deal will help its existing TV clients. The company's studio partners will "benefit from new advertisers," while adapting a management strategy that will "enhance program ratings, generate additional revenue and create effective two-way communication" with viewers.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

As part of its deal with stations for arranging the rewards program, GreenLink has gotten local 10-second avails. While PIC-TV has been selling national TV 10-second commercials to advertisers for decades, it has arranged some sales of local ad sales for its national advertising clients.

David Hansfield, COO of PIC-TV, says: "The eye is on expanding local markets to create a national unwired network, as well as to expand syndicated programming and cable network [programming]."

Hansfield says future deals will be exclusive: only one station per city. In those markets, an advertiser might get a local 10-second spot in a entertainment news show, a talk show, or a court show to offer different demographics for sale.

Stations typically get $10 to $15 per person per local advertiser, according to Hansfield; GreenLink gets on-air promotion from the TV stations.

PIC-TV has been in business for more than 30 years, selling 10-second spots in a number of Hollywood studios' syndicated TV shows. It now exclusively sells 10-second spots in around 20 shows, including "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," "Live with Regis & Kelly," "Family Feud," "Criminal Minds," "Jerry Springer," "Numb3rs" and "Steve Wilkos."