Jeff Zucker of NBC

While online audiences grow for its shows, ad revenue has not kept pace, said Jeff Zucker in an interview with the Financial Times.

Changes in ad sales and delivery are crucial to monetizing online streaming, Zucker said, and grow more necessary as traditional ratings decline.

With the exception of the CW, networks now appear to take it for granted that online streaming is a major growth area for audience loyalty. Bowing to this trend, ex-network the WB recently announced its reincarnation as an online-only network for streaming TV classics.

The question now is how to turn ad-supported online streaming into the cash cow that TV advertising once was.

ABC plans to experiment with inserting multiple commercials into each break in online shows. (Currently, the standard is one :15 to :30 ad per break.)

CEO Jason Kilar of Hulu told advertisers to consider the engagement opportunities in web TV advertising. Perhaps inspired by that out-of-box thinking, NBCU and Omnicom are encouraging advertisers to help them create shows for both online and TV distribution.