NEW YORK — Do you get an inexplicable craving for Outback steaks and Mike's Hard Lemonade every time you watch your favorite sports channel?

Don't be surprised: While you were catching up on football gossip, you were also getting a dose of advertising. A fact of life in movies since E.T. nibbled his first Reese's Pieces, product placement has come to the small screen.

"There's no doubt that the industry is increasingly enticed by it, both advertisers and the networks," Advertising Age reporter David Goetzl said. "They definitely both seem to be looking for ways to do more and more of it."

Fox Sports' Best Damn Sports Show, Period! includes on its stage a built-in Quizno's sandwich shop, a Mike's Hard Lemonade Bar, vehicles from Honda and dinners from Outback Steakhouse. The audience isn't told advertisers pay for the placements, but neither does the show hide the fact it incorporates them into the program.