ABC, Media Agency MindShare to Develop TV Shows

ABC, a unit of Walt Disney Co. , and MindShare, a unit of advertising conglomerate WPP Group Plc, said they would first focus on creating scripted series for family audiences, with the two companies sharing development costs.

The venture could put a new twist on product placements and sponsorships, strategies being embraced by advertisers in the face of eroded audience ratings and technologies like TiVo which allow viewers to skip commercials and watch programs according to their own timetables.

Critics have said such strategies can blur too much the line between entertainment and marketing.

According to the deal, MindShare clients would advertise on series developed and produced through the partnership. ABC would keep distribution rights for the programs.

"This gives us a chance to have a collaborative relationship with our major clients early in the process so that we know ... we will meet the needs of the clients," Alex Wallau, ABC network President, told Reuters. "This could be an important part of a portion of our primetime programming."

Marc Goldstein, Chief Executive of MindShare North America, said the partnership's primary goal was to create television shows popular enough to draw the audiences advertisers crave.

"The door is open reasonably wide for anything we think is going to be compelling. The key is that it is scripted," Goldstein said, citing ABC's "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" as an example of a successful format. "We're not focusing in on reality (TV)."

MindShare's Goldstein said that the venture with ABC would give clients better access to cross-marketing opportunities and product integration in the course of television shows.

But while a comedy born out of the partnership might use clients' products on its set, such as kitchen appliances, "that doesn't mean that were going to create a kitchen set simply for the sake of having a kitchen set," he said.

"Whatever we do we want to be as seamless and organic as possible," he said.

Earlier this year, MindShare hired former CBS Entertainment President Peter Tortorici who will work with ABC and MindShare clients on program development. MindShare handles media planning and buying accounts for companies such as Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Unilever .