NBC Universal ends ad deal with Google
The network calls off two-year-old deal whereby Google sold ad space on NBC's Syfy, Oxygen, MSNBC, Sleuth, and Chiller channels by way of its Google TV Ads online marketplace.
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NBC Universal has ended a two-year-old arrangement with Google that allowed the Internet giant to sell ad space on several NBC cable channels, according to a report.
The Los Angeles Times reported today that the network has called off the deal, whereby Google sold ad space on NBC's Syfy, Oxygen, MSNBC, Sleuth, and Chiller channels by way of its Google TV Ads online marketplace. The marketplace lets companies get help in creating commercials; choose networks, programs, and time slots for showing them; and monitor--through data recorded by set-top boxes--how many household TVs are tuned to a commercial when it runs.
"We're not currently contributing inventory into the Google marketplace, but we continue to work with Google on multiple projects involving advanced advertising," the Times quoted NBC Universal spokeswoman Liz Fischer as saying.
Citing an unnamed source, the Times said NBC had determined that although Google TV Ads had helped fill ad space on small channels, it hadn't worked out so well in regard to more established networks. The publication also suggested that a certain wariness of the Internet search giant may have been a factor in the decision. (That feeling is shared in one form or another by various traditional media outlets.)
Google's relationship with NBC continues in other forms--which the search giant itself pointed out.
"CNBC is an important partner in the launch of Google TV, and we are working together on research studies," the Times quoted Google as saying in a statement.