NBC hopes the minute-long movies will stop viewers channel-hopping during breaks as television networks look for new ideas to keep viewers tuned in during commercial breaks.
There is a growing fear among advertisers and television networks alike that channel-hopping viewers are increasingly avoiding ads. The problem for the networks is made worse by technology such as personal video recorders, including TiVo and Sky+.
The mini-movies, 10 of which have so far been produced for the autumn line-up, will feature big stars such as Michael Richards of 'Seinfeld', Tom Arnold of 'Roseanne' and Carmen Electra, and will comprise a mix of comedy and suspense.
NBC is breaking the one-minute movies, which are being called "1MM's", into two 30-second segments. The first half will have a cliffhanger ending as an enticement to keep viewers watching out for the second half, which will follow in the next hour's programming.
There is also one longer film, called 'Henry Tammer, Prodigal Bully', which will be four minutes in total. That movie, about an eight-year-old genius who also happens to be a nasty little bully, was made by Hank Perlman, a producer and director who helped create the series of absurdist promotions for ESPN called 'This Is SportsCenter'.
'Henry Tammer, Prodigal Bully' will be broken into eight 30-second slots and play over four nights.
Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Entertainment, told the New York Times: "Everybody is experimenting with ways to keep viewers around."
Zucker pointed to other recent examples of broadcasters experimenting, such as Fox's 'American Idol', which over-ran, spilling by around four minutes into the next show.
Earlier this year a new channel showing only TV commercials was trialled. The channel was the idea of Guy Lambert, a board account planner at Lowe.
In the month-long trial, viewers were able to access 'The Ad Chart', which offered them a choice of 10 advertisements. They were then asked to vote on how good the ads were. Ads running on the trial included the new Stella Artois spot, directed by Jonathan Glazer; Reebok's award-winning 'sofa' spot; and Nestle Double Cream. All were created by Lowe.
The introduction of mini-movies, however, will not detract from airtime for advertising. The mini-movies will only run when a show under-runs by 30 seconds.
The idea of the mini-movies is the brainchild of NBC 'ER' executive producer John Wells and director Paris Barclay, who has worked on 'The West Wing', 'ER' and 'NYPD Blue'.
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