Is it Telling That Ben Silverman's Initials are BS?

Very telling, imho. Oh, shit, there goes my job at NBC. Oh well, the Gladiators are gonna have to oil up without me this season.

(Just kidding, but that's a job that NBC should put on its auction site. I betcha they'd make a lot of money selling the opportunity to oil up the former Colt model that appears on the show [pictured]. Gladiators comes back at the end of the month, btw.)

Anyhow, our online pal Daisy Whitney from TV Week covered Ben's keynote interview at the TV Week Upfront Summit in NYC.

Here's some of Daisy's piece:

In 15 years, broadcast television will only be useful for high-profile live events like the Super Bowl, awards shows and programs like “American Idol,” Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, said during a keynote interview at the TelevisionWeek Upfront Summit in New York.

Other shows will have to live on multiple platforms to survive.

“[Broadcast] will also be where we launch our episodic storytelling vehicles, but they will be living and breathing everywhere,” he said.

NBC plans to experiment with driving viewers to the Web from TV with its new fall show “Kath and Kim.” NBC will offer continued scenes online after each episode airs, Mr. Silverman said.

“Around our new offerings there will literally be shows that end on air and the last scene will continue online,” he said.

(snip)

When asked about the reputation he has developed in his short time on the job as an entertainment chief who works closely with marketers, he said that’s due to the new generation of showrunners who are “friends” of advertisers.

That includes Tim Kring and Tina Fey, who head up popular NBC shows “Heroes” and “30 Rock,” respectively, Mr. Silverman said.

“Tina Fey loves American Express. They have been inside '30 Rock,' in the show. They have supported her through the Tribeca Film Festival,” he said. “Tim Kring enjoys his relationships with Nissan. He felt Nissan helped empower the growth of that show.”

My considered comments after the jump. And, btw, they are the same comments that I left after Daisy's piece at TV Week, just so you don't have to read them twice.

If you're gonna send me online to see the final scene of a TV show just to get me to your website, Ben Silverman (pictured left), I'll just watch something besides Kath & Kim, and I think a lot of other people will do the same.

What a foolish idea.

Tina Fey doesn't "love American Express," she realizes that to keep a show on the air you have to sacrifice some dignity in exchange for that Amex, Snapple, Verizon and Soyjoy money.

Tim Kring doesn't "love Nissan." He loves the fact that putting Claire in that Nissan Rogue gave him the revenue he needed for better special effects shots.

And neither of them minded the fact that saying yes to the major product placement deals gave them some leeway on ratings numbers.

Still, I am not aware of any legitimate studies that have confirmed that product placement drives people to purchase. If you have one, send it to me.

Personally, if the placement is too obvious, it only reminds me NOT to buy that product.