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At a time when PBS is under siege by members of Congress looking to eliminate its federal funding,
an ad campaign bearing its association might be smart business, but is ill-timed. While PBS makes the case that government dollars are crucial for its viability, the drawing of attention to other
funding streams might be better shelved until the NPR-fueled, anti-public broadcasting tide ebbs.
Multiple Web sites have banner ads from the Sponsorship Group for Public
Television (SGPTV), which sells national sponsorships for PBS programs, looking to drum up business from corporations.
The trade ad touts the chance for a PBS sponsor to
reach a “quality audience” via the likes of “Antiques Road Show,” “Curious George” and “Frontline.” A click-through leads to an SGPTV site pitching
marketers on an array of opportunities -- from 30-second spots, to a presence on tune-in print ads, to tickets to an event such as the Emmys to give to clients. It also offers case studies on
successful campaigns run by the likes of Chick-fil-a and Liberty Mutual.
Why clue Congress in to some of the options PBS offers and successes it has had in garnering
corporate dollars? While fighting back against moves to slash its funding, cry poor in a clever, reasoned way. Don’t note help received from an insurance company.
For that matter, PBS might do itself a favor by removing a prominent Goldman Sachs ad from its Web site. A Republican Congressman might wonder why PBS is doing business with the
controversial Wall Street giant.
Nonetheless, SGPTV would argue the genesis of the trade campaign falls in line with the need for continued public funding. The genesis is
advertisers have largely overlooked PBS opportunities, so sponsorships aren’t a cash-rich trough.
“Public television hasn’t really
been on (advertisers’) radar screen the way it should be,” said Suzanne Zellner, vice president for corporate sponsorships for WGBH.
SGPTV operations are run out
of the Boston-based WGBH, a prominent PBS member station.
Among the case studies on the SGPTV’s sales site are one for Chick-fil-A’s affiliation with
children’s show “Between the Lions,” which included more than 500 spots running per year, co-branded books and in-store signage.
There is also a
detailing of Liberty Mutual’s involvement with “Antiques Road Show” that started in 2004. That program includes a booth at “Road Show” taping events and access to the
mailing list of the attendees, allowing the insurer to follow-up.
As a vehicle to gin up
business, the SGPTV site is well put together. It’s easy to navigate and likely gets marketers and agencies considering or conceiving a slew of possibilities.
Pretty
neat is an easy-to-use recommendation engine allowing advertises to match target audiences with shows. Users offer a preferred audience demographic based on factors such as gender, age and number of
kids and SGPTV returns with options by genre.
The SGPTV sales team has four people. Zellner declined to cite how much revenue its operations generate.
The group raises money that goes to individual stations such as WETA -- which produces “Washington Week” -- to help offset production costs and takes a commission. PBS
benefits as the dollars should lead to higher-quality programming it can distribute to its stations.
Zellner said the campaign launched before the recent NPR fundraising
imbroglio and subsequent furor, which led to the CEO resigning. And she doesn’t think its timing will lead to any questions from federal legislators. House members presumably have better things
to do than troll through ad-industry Web sites.
Still, it’s running after the House approved legislation that would cut federal PBS funding. PBS has been fighting
back, releasing a study it commissioned showing 69% of voters are against a government elimination of funds, including a large percentage of Republicans.
Yet, while
swinging back, why risk alerting Congress to potential corporate largesse.