Beth Comstock, head of NBC Universal's digital division, has a bold idea for the media company: creating advertising.

Comstock and her key staffers have begun approaching Universal's top advertisers, trying to sell them on the idea of shifting some of their ad business directly to Universal's digital studios, Business Week reports. Comstock points out that Universal wants mainly to extend and enhance the work of existing campaigns.

Comstock says Universal has been talking with advertisers for about three months and the first deals could become reality by yearend. The initial examples of the work will likely appear outside the company's properties, on mobile devices or advertisers' own sites, and will eventually include brand-associated casual games.

Business Week's Jon Fine concludes that NBC U's "new dances with advertisers rejigger the entire notion of what a network is and how it participates in marketing. As for the ad agencies now feeling the tectonic plates rumble and the fear rising, well, nothing is stopping you guys from making like networks and creating your own programming, as some of the smart agencies have done for some time."