NBC pimps products the most

NBC can finally claim to be Number One at something. And, boy oh boy, is NBC waaaay in front of the pack when it comes to product placement. According to Nielsen Media Research, NBC upped its product placement in primetime programming from 11,684 in 2003-04 to 21,286 in 2004-05. Wow. That's a lot. Especially considering the number two network for primetime product placement, CBS, had 12,294 placements last season.

Here are some placements, did you notice them?
 

• Everybody Loves Raymond: Ray knocks over a display of Ragu Express in a grocery store
• Lost: the silver attache case carried by the Federal Marshal was paid for by maker Zero Halliburton
• Without a Trace: the FBI agents all use Dell computers
  

One of the biggest offenders for this stealth advertising is American Idol, which racked up 3,000 product placements last season due to lucrative contracts with Coke, Ford and Cingular. This was pretty surprising to me. I thought that ABC would have the most product placement because of the way Extreme Makeover: Home Edition shoves it down our throats, but ABC doesn't even rank in the top three. According to this advertising guru, product placement in film or television costs a company anywhere from $10,000 to $200,000.