plugola

plural plugolas

1. USinformaluncountableusuallyUndeclared or illicit publicity or product promotion, especially on radio or television.First known use 20th c.

   Both radio and television management must be watchful for instances of staff payola and plugola.

   2006, Susan Tyler Eastman, Douglas A. Ferguson, Robert A. Klein, editors, Media Promotion and Marketing for Broadcasting, Cable, and the Internet, page 22

   2 more examples

   Portland's TV stations regularly employ plugola in news programming as a way of promoting parent network programming […].

   2007, Carey L Higgins, Gerald Sussman, edited by Gibson & Lowes, Urban Communication: Production, Text, Context, page 151

   It’s unclear just how widespread such “plugola” schemes are now. But an FCC report, published in June, cited a 2010 Pew survey in which 24 percent of local TV news executives reported “a blurring of lines between advertising and news.”

   2012 January 4, Paul Farhi, The Washington Post