• NY Times, Monday, December 5, 2005 11:32 AM

There's an old saying that what's old is new again, and that certainly seems to be the case in the world of marketing and advertising. Anyone old enough to remember the days when single sponsorships of TV shows like "The Texaco Star Theater," "Magnavox Theater" or "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" were common, is probably too old to be totally familiar with new media concepts like podcasting and Webisodes. Yet the two now have something in common, as marketers are once again embracing the single-sponsorships idea in these new media forms. "It really is back to the future," said Max Wasinger, senior vice president for sales and marketing at Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America. His company, a unit of Mitsubishi Electric, agreed last week to become the exclusive sponsor of a high-definition music channel being introduced by the MTV Networks Music Group division of Viacom. "This takes our brand and moves it to another level," Mr. Wasinger said of the deal, which includes Mitsubishi becoming the title sponsor of original programming on the MHD music channel and the words "Powered by Mitsubishi" appearing in spots urging viewers to watch. And Mitsubishi is not the only major marketer exploring such single sponsorships. Companies like Bacardi, ConAgra, DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor, General Motors, Georgia-Pacific, Nike, Nokia, Royal Philips Electronics, Target and Time Warner are also getting in on the action.

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