With an Emmy-winning reality show based on baseball’s most famous team that is crammed with product placement, it shouldn’t be any surprise that in its second year YES Network’s “Ultimate Road Trip” has a line of sponsors waiting to climb on board.
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YES Network’s “Ultimate Road Trip” follows
contestants as they follow the Yankees. |
Still, YES Network’s Mike Wach, executive vice president of ad sales, recalled that there were doubters when “Ultimate Road Trip” launched last year. But, he said, “we gave our viewers what they wanted — a show they could easily connect with about their favorite team [the Yankees], along with what advertisers wanted.”
That is, a way to reach Yankees fans outside of game broadcasts, along with endless opportunities for branded content as contestants followed the team’s schedule, both in New York and on road trips.
“Road Trip” airs over the 26 weeks of the MLB season, playing as many as six times weekly. In 2005, it garnered a 2.5 cumulative rating, equal to 184,000 households and 208,000 viewers. This year a plot twist sees the four contestants cohabitating in a Manhattan apartment, allowing additional product placement opportunities for advertisers that include Dunkin’ Donuts, Poland Spring Water and Tempur-Pedic Mattress.
While crisscrossing the country following their beloved team, the four contestants try to TiVo-proof the show by plugging the likes of Fuji Film, Chevy Tahoe, Continental Airlines and Geico. The product immersion is bought as part of an overall ad buy.
So where’s the line separating art and commerce?
“It’s meant to be over the top, so I don’t think there is one,” said Wach, who would like to add another beverage and a quickservice restaurant, while acknowledging the show is close to sold out.
Other than the shared living situation, there also will be votes, a la “Survivor,” that will determine who gets to go to games.
