• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 16, 2008

NBC Universal is expected to announce a deal today allowing it to sell spots on a network reaching more than 200 college campuses. The deal with The University Network calls for NBCU to provide content to the college network, while gaining the rights to sell ads on it.

The announcement of "NBC on Campus" will come as NBCU holds its first-ever digital out-of-home "upfront" presentation this afternoon, two sources said. NBCU will tout its NBC Everywhere program that offers advertisers exposure on a range of properties beyond TV.

In the case of The University Network, NBCU will be able to offer advertisers the opportunity to target the hard-to-reach college audience.

Separately in its presentation to media buyers today, NBCU will also tout an agreement for the first time with IdeaCast, which operates a network in health clubs, an executive with IdeaCast said.

The University Network deal is owned by Submedia (which purchased it in late 2006) and is available on 283 screens on 235 campuses.

Under the arrangement, NBCU will provide short-form clips (90 seconds or less) from shows ranging from "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" to "The Office" to news features focusing on the presidential campaign and issues germane to college kids. NBCU content will be provided daily, and can be customized for specific markets. So, local stations owned by NBC can provide weather, news and sports information in their respective areas.

NBC has the rights to sell 15- to-30-second spots that follow its clips and static skyscraper banners that run alongside its content. The University Network will also sell that real estate, and NBCU and the network will share revenues. Ads can also run on the network across the country or only in specific markets.

A representative for The University Network declined comment, but confirmed that an announcement is coming today. An NBC representative declined comment.

The nearly 300 screens that carry The University Network, which competes with MTVu, are located in student unions and other on-campus locales with high traffic.

Further evidence that advertisers are eager to reach college kids came a year ago when Nielsen began incorporating students living away from home in its ratings. By the same token, NBCU may gain a promotional boost for its shows through the clips on The University Network.

IdeaCast also offers advertisers the opportunity to buy full-network spots or locally targeted ones. The network is in more than 1,000 health clubs and bills itself as offering a chance to reach an upscale audience.

With the local TV ad market slowing, NBCU is hoping to reposition itself in the 10 markets where it owns stations as a one-stop-shop for advertisers to reach consumers at multiple touchpoints. Also driving the strategy is the boom in out-of-home advertising, which offers a captive audience. (CBS is taking control of SignStorey, which operates a network in more than 1,400 grocery stores, in a similar move.)

At today's presentation, NBCU is expected to also highlight previously announced out-of-home ad opportunities, including offerings on a network in supermarkets (Supermarket Checkout TV)--as well as on screens in taxis, at gas stations and sports arenas, and aboard PATH trains that run between New York and New Jersey.

NBCU executives serving as "hosts" at today's event include John Wallace, who oversees the 10 NBC-owned stations as president of the local media division; Marianne Gambelli, president of NBC network sales; and Mark French, who heads NBC Everywhere and spearheads deals with the likes of IdeaCast. Beth Comstock, president of NBCU Integrated Media, is the highest-ranking executive in the lineup of hosts.

NBCU's owned stations carrying the NBC network are in the country's top three markets--New York, Los Angeles and Chicago--and seven others.