Viacom (VIA-B) CEO Philippe Dauman said that the company won't make upfront deals this summer based upon commercial ratings.
Speaking to a group of investors, Dauman said, "We think it needs another year of fine-tuning for cable networks." He acknowledged that it is inevitable that it will become the standard.
Another growing trend for the company is the use of commercial pods of short lengths that are being run like a mini-series of short-form clips. They're about to do it will promoting American Eagle, and are looking to do that with other companies - against the regular commercial breaks that are not well-liked and skipped by viewers.
The American Eagle initiative will be 12 three-minute video clips being called an MTV series, which will be a combination of programming and advertising.
These little vignettes are one of the ways that Viacom is looking to keep people engaged and watching in between segments of a show. They're essentially little mini shows that stand on their own.
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