NBC ramps up out-of-home TV ad sales

By Paul Thomasch

NEW YORK, Jan 16 (Reuters) - NBC Universal, ramping up sales of TV commercials beyond living rooms, on Wednesday made its first ever industrywide pitch to top marketers like General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on advertising in taxis, hospitals, stadiums and elsewhere.

As TV networks face more competition for ad dollars, the General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) unit showed dozens of marketing executives 10 alternative "out-of-home" locations that it said would rack up some 3 billion advertising impressions over the year.

The venues include commuter trains, schools, gas stations and supermarkets, some of which NBC Universal has previously sold and others that it will roll out shortly. The company also added fitness centers and colleges to its roster on Wednesday.

NBC Universal modeled the presentation at its Rockefeller Center headquarters in New York after similar pitches to TV advertisers each spring, an annual event known as the upfront.

Out-of-home, also known as outdoor, is the second fastest growing advertising outlet after the Internet.

While NBC Universal has sold spots at locations like gas stations and taxis, the deals have been relatively limited.

Using stars like Tina Fey, Jim Cramer and Jay Leno and John Madden, NBC has created short segments to run on screens. The segments could be made up of local news, weather, sports scores, trivia or entertainment. Advertisements would then run between clips, much like TV.

"You've got to make people want to watch the screen," said Mark French, head of the division selling the out-of-home advertising space, NBC Everywhere.