Launch week also marks debut of cross-promo ads

NEW YORK -- Put fresh batteries in your remote: Monday night is the official start of the fall TV season.

With millions of viewers hungry for new prime-time programming, marketers are looking to cash in by tying their brands to must-see TV.

An ad that will run this week toward the end of ABC's Grey's Anatomy, for example, begins counting down the number of "heartbeats" until the next show (from 601,000) and reassures viewers that TV Guide's outlets will "get you through the week." The brand will have a total of 13 ads tailored to individual shows, including Fox's Prison Break, NBC's Heroes and CBS' Survivor: China.

The goal is an image shift from "just a magazine of listings" to "the resource to help satiate a viewer's needs until the next episode," says Peter Krivkovich, CEO of TV Guide ad agency Cramer-Krasselt.

The company has prime placement in the second half of each show, says Gemstar chief marketing officer Alan Cohen. "Tying (the campaign) to the launch of the fall TV season made a lot of strategic sense for us. People have a passion for their favorite show."

Other marketers also linked brands to the TV season opening, some with formal promotion partnerships. Those include a trio of car brands and a restaurant chain:

Throughout the evening, CBS will air promos with CSI: Miami star Adam Rodriguez next to a red Caddy CTS. He proclaims the night "The Cadillac of Premieres."

CBS' marketing agency Initiative also created a program of information about CBS shows and about the redesigned 2008 CTS for packaging on USB flash drives and viewing on a computer. The drives were included with subscriber copies of the Sept. 21 Entertainment Weekly.

"We liked the (joint promotion) because it draws attention to our program premieres," says CBS Marketing Group President George Schweitzer. "Together, we're both pushing the message out there for CBS and Cadillac."