I am not sure what it's like in other countries, in China the show recruits sponsors before it's being made. I used to work as a head of marketing for a international enterprise in China and I experienced many of this. read more
Normally big firms do it via an agency. The TV shows do not need to be made first, but they need a proposal and have checked the resources to make sure it's feasible in the next year. read more
There are a couple ways television shows recruit sponsors/marketers. Upfront ad sales. Post-production ad sales. Many network series/shows use upfronts as a way to get advertisers to commit to TV commercials. Most rely on post-production. Emerging technology. Native Advertising. read more