US Television networks are devising new short programs for the coming seasons, a vehicle that media watchers say could become central to commercial advertising formats in the next few years. NBC and ABC plan to run short dramatic films, no longer than a few minutes, during commercial blocks to keep viewers from drifting. The projects are expected to influence advertising as well by demanding more entertaining commercial spots and blur further the line between entertainment and product sales. Advertising industry experts said the time was ripe for such experimentation as broadcast networks face growing pressure from cable television, video-on-demand services and technologies, such as TiVo, that allow viewers to skip commercials. "For a long time, marketers stepped back and did not evolve as rapidly as they should," said Bob Liodice, president of the Association of National Advertisers which represents more than 300 top companies. "The cumulative impact of all this is the consumer is literally running away." The stakes for holding on to viewers during breaks rose even higher after advertisers poured new money into this year's television fall season, hoping to revive consumer appetites. "Over the next five years we'll see a variety of short-form programming efforts that range anywhere from 30 to 120 seconds," said Jack Myers, editor of a media industry newsletter at http://www.jackmyers.com. "It's not inconceivable that these can be very successful, but the success and failure rate will be higher than regular shows. It is very difficult to develop inexpensive short-form content," Myers said. He said that creating engaging short formats will become even more crucial as researchers hone their tracking to give ratings for specific commercials in the next few years. NBC will be airing "1MMs" -- one-minute suspense-building movies in between commercials -- featuring work by some of the network's star actors and directors. ABC developed three-minute-long "Micro-Mini Series" to play in minute-long installments over the course of prime-time and late-night programs, partly as a way to showcase new talent. NBC is a unit of General Electric Co., while ABC is owned by Walt Disney Co. . "Short (films) have really taken off as a genre. There's a trend toward shorts and another trend toward viewing media not as contentless advertising but as a shopping mall," said Mark DiMassimo, president of DiMassimo Brand Advertising. He said the buzz around short movies began last year with a campaign of brief films advertising BMW cars. The new formats also follow the apparent success of product placements woven into television story lines, as well as an increase in sponsored programming to more closely identify company brands with content. HBO's popular "Sex and the City," for example, showed the character Miranda entering a co-dependent relationship with her TiVo recorder this season and wrote in a provocative ad campaign for Absolut vodka involving one of Samantha's love interests. NBC also launched a different kind of format experiment earlier this month, broadcasting a talk-show-style hour of shopping channel ShopNBC during several of its affiliates' regular daytime programming. In addition to offering products on air, the show is interspersed with regular commercials. While that project will last only for a few weeks, "I do think there's a blend out there that can move product and be appealing for consumers," said Brandon Burgess, executive vice president of business development at NBC. "I honestly don't see us doing that on the network, but it's not inconceivable that you would do it on a syndicated basis," he said. Source: Reuters