Disney’s ABC might be on the lookout for an incursion Fox Nation. Promos for the new “The Vow,” an original dating series led by Chris Harrison, former host of the ABC mainstay “The Bachelor,” are slated to air in local ad inventory on several ABC stations in roughly a dozen markets, according to a person familiar with the matter. The promos would surface even though Warner Bros.
Television, producer of “The Bachelor,” recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Fox News Media streaming service calling for it to stop making visual and creative references to “The Bachelor.” Fox Nation will stay on the march. The new promo is expected to run in local ad inventory on ABC stations in New York City, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas, this person says. Fox News declined to make executives available for comment.
The promos could air during primetime programs such as “Grey’s Anatomy” one of ABC’s most-watched series. WBTV on September 18 claimed recent promos for “The Vow” represented “a plain attempt to capitalize on and ‘ride on the coattails’ of WB’s instantly recognizable intellectual property and the Franchise’s goodwill in violation of, inter alia, state and federal trademark, copyright, and unfair competition laws,” according to a copy of the cease and desist letter reviewed by Variety. To be clear, though, we have no objection to Fox and Lionsgate releasing a dating show hosted by Chris Harrison in and of itself.
But thus far, Fox and Lionsgate have promoted the Series entirely on the back of the Franchise, not on its own merits.” Fox Nation seemed undaunted by the effort. Your letter appears designed not to vindicate legitimate copyright and trademark interests, but to restrict FOX Nation and Chris Harrison from promoting a competing dating show. It is unfortunate that Warner Bros. is targeting Mr.
Harrison in this malicious and vindictive manner,” the company said in a September 24 response. Buying local inventory on stations is a tried-and-true method for companies to get commercials on air that might otherwise be blocked. In the world of TV promotion, it’s almost impossible to get a rival network to pick up an ad that disparages or emulates its programs.
The alternative, a select few have discovered, is to purchase ad slots on local stations or cable and satellite systems and deliver the equivalent of a hard elbow to the ribs: Stop watching this and start watching us. In 2014, the CW ran ads on the cable network once known as ABC Family telling TV viewers to stop watching “Pretty Little Liars” and turn instead to its own “The Originals.” The technique was also used to great effect by Time Warner’s TNT in 2004. When the cable outlet was running “Without A Trace” on Mondays, it bought up ads during NBC’s “E.R.,” which just happened to air opposite the current season of “Trace” on CBS on Thursday nights.
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