• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, June 19, 2023

Making a streaming name ubiquitous is the goal -- kind of what ABC, NBC, CBS were a generation ago.

Peacock recently made a deal to put its name on a Los Angeles downtown theater and for digital signage to gain better awareness in the entertainment/sports area known as L.A. Live.

Real-time, place-based deals are a nod to what legacy U.S. entertainment businesses have been doing for some time. It takes the digital screen aspect of a brand and gives it some real-time, offscreen life. 

This needs to go further -- and in a way, backwards.

One key area that has been a non-starter for years is getting exposure on competing broadcast network channels, now with sister premium streaming platforms.

While cable TV networks have been doing this for years -- advertising on each other's networks --  broadcast networks continue to stick to prohibition. And this now extends their premium streaming channels, for the most part.

For example, over the past 12-month period, virtually all promotion/advertising messages for Peacock -- amounting to 2,600 airings -- have run on NBCUniversal networks.  

And yet, some promos do seem to slip through the cracks, appearing on competitors' platforms including their broadcast networks.

So for Peacock, it got 29 airings on Fox Sports and one each on CBS, TBS, truTV, and on Paramount Network, according to EDO Ad EnGage.

As streaming competition continues to intensify, and also perhaps the need to stabilize the TV advertising business in a decreasingly linear TV business -- will all this eventually see these entertainment advertising walls start to come down?

There seems to be wiggle room going forward. If, for example, ABC is airing the NBA Finals or NBC is airing the Super Bowl, you have always seen theatrical movies being advertised from, say, Walt Disney or Paramount. 

The chief issue with TV comes down to tune-in of specific TV shows on specific nights.

ABC wouldn't want to take a paid advertisement from NBC for “Chicago P.D.” if it touted an episode airing on Wednesday at 10 p.m. This would directly affect whatever ABC show was airing at the same time.

But streaming is different, when it comes to its library of video-on-demand accessibility of its programming.

Perhaps there will be some loosening of this process going forward, especially as streaming takes over more TV viewing. There would seem to be benefits all around. 

If not, then look for streamers to find other legacy media opportunities to make their impact -- theater, outdoor, and otherwise. But we should reckon that some TV network group will take the leap as linear TV continues to drift lower.