Bon Jovi Signs Exclusive Deal With NBC

The B in NBC stands for Bon Jovi. At least for the month of November.

In a deal unveiled by NBC Universal this week, the band will perform on the Today show, The Tonight Show, The Jay Leno Show and Saturday Night Live — and even an interview on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Jon Bon Jovi will appear on Inside the Actors Studio on the Bravo channel.

The artist-in-residence gig for Bon Jovi coincides with the release of the band’s new album, The Circle, out Nov. 12. The promotion throughout the NBC Universal kingdom should be quite staggering. Somehow this feels like a harbinger of network stunts to come.

“Of course you usually try to be out there everywhere, when a new album is coming out,” Bon Jovi told the NY Times.

“So we have to sacrifice certain shows and relationships. We hope this doesn’t jeopardize any of them. But in a shrinking media environment, you have to kind of reinvent the wheel.”

I guess if you’re a network that is presently rated behind the other ‘big TV networks’ then the idea of dragging Bon Jovi into the battle isn’t such a crazy idea. Maybe more Bon Jovi is what the TV industry needs. If the NBC gig tweaks the ratings perhaps there will be some insane bidding war between TV network honchos to get the very talented and charming (it’s true, he is, face it) Bon Jovi and his band to be on their network.

At this point in the history of network TV anything and everything is in play.

About that chitchat with the annoying James Lipton on the once-respectable Inside the Actor’s Studio: Bon Jovi said the appearance will mostly cover his music career, but might touch on some his film work. Really? I like Jon Bon Jovi, but I cannot imagine a conversation veering off into Moonlight and Valentino, U-571 and No Looking Back territory. Here’s hoping they stick to how they came up with the album title Slippery When Wet.

What’s interesting is that it was Bon Jovi who pitched the deal to NBC boss Jeff Zucker. The whole thing may very well end up being excessive and annoying, but a hat tip to Mr. Bon Jovi for understanding how album promotion works in a new media world. Screw radio, embrace television.

It’s obvious Bon Jovi will appear on the talk/variety shows, but why not go all-in? Where’s the Jon Bon Jovi  Office cameo? Why not have Tico Torres guest on Law & Order: SVU? Can they not find an angle to have the band appear on The Biggest Loser?

I joke, but this stunt has some merit, especially for Bon Jovi fans who should enjoy the extra coverage. Conversely, this upcoming Bon Jovi overkill on NBC will surely irk those who already can’t stand Bon Jovi even more.

So are we going to see more of this artist-in-residence idea on NBC? Absolutely. The Times reported that NBC has indicated that it plans to make the artist in residence concept a regular feature.

But for this brand of heavyweight cross-promotion it takes a certain ‘type’ of artist. Bon Jovi fits that bill – and that’s both a dart and arrow for the still-going-strong band. In a perfect world NBC would be setting up a month of Neko Case on the network. Or Wilco. Or The Black Crowes. Or Flaming Lips. But this is not a fantasy, this is network TV.

Taylor Swift’s agent’s phone is probably ringing right about… now.

What band or artist would you like to see spend a month on a TV network?