CBS To Run VIDEO AD In Entertainment Weekly Magazine

NEW YORK — An upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly's print edition will be embedded with a video player that will run ads for CBS shows and Pepsi.

The ad comes in a heavy-paper package resembling the kind of novelty greeting cards that make noises. A roughly two-inch screen starts playing automatically as the page flips open. A speaker is embedded below it.

CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc.'s Entertainment Weekly billed the video advertisement as the first ever to appear in a print magazine. CBS says the video player insert, made by a Los Angeles company called Americhip Inc., will be able to withstand the binding processes and mail delivery.

Ink-on-paper titles have been trying new formats to boost advertising revenue. Major newspapers have taken the once-taboo step of offering ads on their front pages, while magazines have tucked ads into cover flaps and even distributed video promotions on DVDs.

CBS won't say how much it is paying for the spread, but the idea behind these new experiments is generally to charge a premium for advertising that has more potential to catch readers' attention.

The video inserts will appear in some copies of the fall TV preview issue mailed to subscribers in New York and Los Angeles.

In the ad, characters from CBS's "The Big Bang Theory" talk up EW and give a how-to on navigating the different buttons that bring up more clips.

A menu of additional spots includes a clip from "Two and Half Men," a sneak peek at the new CBS comedy "Accidentally on Purpose" and a preview of the network's fall drama slate. There's also an ad for the Pepsi Max diet soft drink.

Comments

[steveinfos]

interesting development

[lukebenward]

great for p0rn. can drown out sen. larry craigs foot tapping.

[exigent]

LOL, so true. People are most likely already trying to figure out a way :|

[bermanator]

In ten years the magazines will read themselves.

[exigent]

maybe in Soviet Russia

[Earl Brown]

businesses are going to use all this technology against us! we must unite brothers and sisters!

[Tadpole7]

OMG, this concept sounds super annoying! I buy and read magazines to escape all the "clutter"...not to be bombarded by more sound, and now, video. Ugh, this new advertising "innovation" stinks!

[kdlaiusa]

It's going to be NOT effective if this method of advertising TV shows (or anything) is overdone.

Nevertheless, it is a wonderful idea and it will grab some attention.

[MiHi]

Looks like the Muggles figured out how those wizards publish The Daily Prophet.

[MyMindSpray]

CYBERDYNE SYSTEMS

SKYNET IS HERE!

[bvf]

Minority Report.

[yodaveg]

Listen to you all--what a bunch of wheezy old far.ts you have become. See that ad on the top of this page? If advertisers didn't pay for Huffington Post you'd have to do all your whining to the mirror.

I don't know exactly what technology is going into this ad, but it sounds fascinating, and props to CBS for trying it.

[Funky Discharge]

Mark My Words, O Brothers And Sisters:
THE TIME IS NIGH UPON US, soon you will open the latest issue of Cosmo, and a DOZEN OR MORE videos will fall out into your lap, exhorting you to renew your subscription.

Well, I'm just sayin', it COULD happen...

[JuniorRoyale]

Advertising is simply the art of grabbing your attention. When you compound the rising number of attention seekers, dwindling attention spans along with our growing tolerance (resistance) to marketing gimmicks - advertisers are getting pushier by the minute. I'm not looking forward to the day when public ads become 'personal' - speaking to you as you walk by. Leave it to advertisers to take technology and turn it into what can only be likened to an incessant ringing in my ears.

[ebroadcast]

Should be good for the landfills

[Deesel]

I was kind of excited thinking this was going to be an OLED full page 'paper' display. Too bad it wasn't.

[sinope]

very Harry Potter

[Jen0141]

Haha I was thinking the same thing - We'll have motion sensor ads that wave at us until we stop and watch.