Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Corey Greenberg, tech editor for NBC's "Today" show, appeared last July to praise Apple's iPod as "a great portable musical player . . . the coolest-looking one" and suggested a compatible device to "share your music with other people." "This is the way to go," he declared.

"Let's cut the Apple commercial here right now, okay?" co-host Matt Lauer interjected.

Lauer was onto something. Greenberg, an NBC contributor, confirmed yesterday that he has received payments from Apple as well as Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Seiko Epson, Creative Technology and Energizer Holdings, charging $15,000 apiece to talk up their products on news shows. The contracts were first disclosed by the Wall Street Journal.

The art of product placement, an increasingly popular and open practice with movie studios, has been handled quietly in television news. In the seemingly endless number of segments about the latest and greatest computers, cameras, music players and other gadgets, experts are praising products -- often on "satellite tours" of local stations -- without disclosing that the manufacturers are paying them to spread the word on the airwaves.

Greenberg was on "Sunday Today" last month to talk about "the coolest thing," Apple's iPhoto service for digital pictures: "All the information goes up to Apple, Apple sends you a week later this perfect beautifully bound book."

Greenberg has also appeared several times on CNBC, including "The Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo," and mentioned Apple and Creative music products in a February appearance on the network. He touted Apple's iPod Photo on CNBC's now-defunct "McEnroe."