THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; Hiding a Television Commercial in Plain View

An NBC-owned talk show is offering marketers the chance to buy guest spots for their products and executives, further blurring the line between programming and advertising.

The sponsored segments were included in about two dozen shows appearing during the 2001-02 season of the entertainment program ''The Other Half,'' which is owned, produced and distributed by the NBC Enterprises division of NBC, part of General Electric. The show -- which is modeled on ABC's ''The View,'' but with male hosts including Dick Clark -- has had representatives from advertisers like Clorox, Hyundai Motor America and even Tan Towel, a ''self-tanning towelette,'' appear on the show as part of the regular programming.

During the Clorox-sponsored segment, for example, the hosts, who also include the actors Danny Bonaduce and Mario Lopez, faced off against members of the studio audience in a make-believe game show about housekeeping. And on the segments paid for by Hyundai, a company marketing executive offered tips on buying and leasing cars. A Hyundai vehicle was on stage for each of the four segments and on the final one, which appeared Wednesday, the company gave away a vehicle to the winner of an online sweepstakes.

While the executives were identified as being from Clorox and Hyundai, the hosts made no mention that the visits were part of an advertising arrangement or that the segments were of a different nature than the show's usual fare like ''Pajama Streetwear Fashions'' and ''The After-Sex Wish List.''

The sponsored segments were formally identified as such only at the end of each show, when during the closing credits the words ''Promotional consideration provided by,'' followed by the name of the segment sponsor, appeared briefly on screen.

By making these deals an intrinsic part of the business model for ''The Other Half,'' NBC is ratcheting up a trend that disturbs critics who are concerned about the increasing commercialization of popular culture.

''It's very alarming advertisers are allowed to have so much control over the content of programming,'' said Jeff Chester, executive director at the Center for Digital Democracy in Washington, an advocacy organization.

''G.E. needs to be ashamed that its television division is engaged in such low-ball tactics to grab advertising dollars,'' he added. ''It's time for Congress to move in and hold hearings on the role advertising is playing in shaping content as the audience goes uninformed.''