• by David Kaplan , January 11, 2005

The ad sales teams of both Fox Cable Networks and Comcast Spotlight's Southwest division can stop Googling each other now that their corporate parents have collaborated on a portal to the Fox affiliate Web site for Comcast Spotlight's sales teams.

This new partnership gives sales representatives instant access to Fox Network information from the Southwest division's intranet site, allowing them to manage network information more easily without usernames or passwords, said Bernie Fischer, director of marketing for Comcast Spotlight's Southwest division.

The idea is to efficiently provide tools that can monitor programming changes, streaming video for presentations, and searchable links for more dynamic content to make the volume of programming information more manageable.

Comcast Spotlight, which is the ad sales arm of Comcast Cable, hopes to create other such "interfaces" with other networks.

"Account representatives can now spend more time building important client relationships," Fischer said. "This increases the account rep's depth of network knowledge on programming, promotions, and special events--all keys to successful selling."