• Ad Age, Wednesday, December 7, 2005 10:45 AM

A half dozen morning TV shows in large markets, including Atlanta, Denver, and Cleveland, are selling on-air segments to advertisers at $2,500 a pop. The shows, which carry slightly different titles in each city, are slotted into Gannett-owned stations. And the sponsored segments, while briefly identified as being such, are designed to fit seamlessly into the programming. The shows' standard hosts appear in the segments, which helps erode the line between normal programming and advertising. Most of the advertisers to date have been local--dentists, auto dealers, and home builders--but some regional and national advertisers are also beginning to take advantage of the unique opportunity at these Gannett stations. One, Honey Baked Ham, has purchased segments on morning chat shows in Atlanta and Colorado. Al Tompkins, of the Poynter Institute, a journalism-research school in St. Petersburg, Florida, says he is troubled by the Gannett initiative. "I understand they're not calling this journalism," he said, "but it looks and smells a lot like journalism" and therefore has the potential to trick consumers.

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