A darker, sadder Spiderman

At TV's annual upfronts last week, the five major networks fell under the scrutiny of advertisers over how to maintain viewers' attention in the face of new technology. Viacom says join 'em, reports The New York Times.MTV presented a new spot that covers the entire ad break. It will also launch three smaller breaks than its usual two during a thirty-minute show. Another spot for Verizon appeared in the center of the screen - via pop-up window - but played muted while a live concert raged on underneath.

Viacom's lesbian and gay network Logo recently featured a Subaru vignette about two women who love to go camping together. The brand was only revealed at the end of the story.

And for the launch of Spiderman 3, five of Viacom's networks aired the never-before-seen trailer simultaneously. Supporting it, the actors pushed viewers to watch the trailer leading up to it.

Executives at Viacom hold a positive view to technological impositions on the traditional ad model, noting youthful audiences have made it acutely important for them to innovate.

“They’re younger, they’re more quickly engaged and more quickly dismissive if they’re not engaged,” said MTV Networks CEO and Chairman Judy McGrath.

Hank Close, president of ad sales, echoes her view. "The whole goal here is to blur the line between content and advertising message."