Flip That Small Business

Viewers in Comcast‘s eastern division this week will begin seeing 30- and 60-second spots from A&E touting the MSO’s Business Class services. They’ll also be watching history. In the spots, talent Than Merrill and Paul Esajian from A&E lifestyle series "Flip This House" say they can transform a frumpy house into a desirable property. In the 60-second piece, FTH tell us to spruce up interiors. And since we’re talking about transforming things, why not have the spot segue to how Comcast Business Class can help transform your business? And add a 10-second tag with Comcast’s phone number and a digital voice offer? "To our knowledge it’s the first time a programmer has partnered with an MSO and used programming assets to promote business services," says AETN vp Jennifer Ball. But Ball would not be surprised to find other MSOs interested. "They’re all looking to business services as a revenue stream," she says, "so we could see ourselves working with a Time Warner or a Cox " on similar spots, using Flip or another series. But this "win-win" isn’t just about a programmer creatively helping an MSO. "We recognize our distributors are not just going to promote our linear network [on the marketing side] unless there’s something that will help them drive revenue, because their cross-channel inventory is way too valuable."