By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --It's not just the musical "Hairspray" that will air live on NBC Wednesday night. So will a handful of the show's commercials.
NBC hopes some innovative approaches will keep viewers interested and point the way toward more creativity among advertisers at a time viewers are accustomed to fast-forwarding through commercials. The live musical, which is quickly becoming a December tradition for NBC, is "the biggest test kitchen that we could possibly have," said Linda Yaccarino, chairwoman of advertising sales and client partnerships at the network, on Tuesday.
The live commercials hearken back to the early days of television.
On Wednesday, Toyota will air a live commercial that's styled after the 1960s setting of the musical, featuring the 2017 Corolla alongside a 50-year-old model of the car.
During another break, Reddi wip will be featured in a musical commercial choreographed by the "Hairspray Live!" team and featuring crew and cast members. NBC says it is inspired by the whipped cream brand's history of being delivered to the door by milkmen years ago.
Similarly, actor Derek Hough, who plays Corny Collins in "Hairspray Live!," will stay in character following a musical number to extol the virtues of Oreo cookies.
In a couple of other commercial breaks, NBC will show live backstage scenes from the musical on a split screen with ads.
Ads are necessary for the TV industry to do business, said NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt. But the more the network can do to combat the letdown feeling that viewers often have during commercial breaks, the better for all involved, he said.
"The more you can make the audience feel that the ads are part of the zeitgeist of the show, the less they feel like, 'oh, it's a pharmaceutical ad in the middle of this joyous musical,'" Greenblatt said.
The Super Bowl every year is considered a creative showcase for advertisers, and Greenblatt said he'd like to provide more opportunities to do that other times during the year.
"I want to make the whole experience for viewers as good as it possibly can be," he said.
Yaccarino said there was more demand from advertisers for such experimentation in "Hairspray Live!" than NBC had the capacity to do at this point. NBC would not discuss what advertisers are charged for the special commercials compared to more typical ads.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More