• by Ken Liebeskind , March 6, 2002

Last week, two giants of television syndication joined forces to sell advertising. The MGM/NBC Media Sales Group, based in New York, will sell ads for a variety of off-network and first run syndicated programs that are owned by the companies.

Michael Daraio, the former MGM Media Sales executive vice president who will run the new shop, says it's a joint venture, with each company maintaining a 50% ownership. He calls the move an evolution from the relationship that began a year and a half ago when MGM began distributing NBC syndicated programs internationally. "Now we'll sell them domestically," he says.

Eleven syndicated shows and three movie packages are being sold now. Among the properties are talks shows (John Walsh Show), dramas (Providence), adventure series (Stargate SG:1), sports (The George Michael Sports Machine) and news (weekend news with Chris Matthews). The UPN weekend movie and the Lion Legacy I film package will also be sold.

The shows include NBC Enterprises and MGM Worldwide Television properties. All are shows going into syndication with no network or cable shows sold, Daraio says.

Prior to the joint venture, MGM operated a media sales division but NBC had none. It relied on outside vendors to sell its syndicated shows. Using outside vendors is a common practice, Daraio says, "but now we're in control of our own destiny."

What the new media sales division will do is package the shows in different ways to sell them to advertisers. Talk shows like John Walsh appeal to women 18 to 49 and adventures like Stargate SG:1 appeal to adults 18 to 49. "We'll package them by demographic and day part," Daraio says.

Tony Jarvis, senior vice president of the Strategic Insights group at Mediacom, is somewhat wary of the packages. "There's more consolidation, they're cutting costs, it will be easier for us, but they could be packaging the shows in ways we don't want," he says. "The packages might offer the demographics, but maybe not the environment. Some shows won't work for the client or the advertiser."