Fox Broadcasting and NBCUniversal Media will tout each other's U.S. TV shows in a rare cross-promotion to support common sponsor Pepsi-Cola, executives said.

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Fox will promote NBC's Super Bowl XLVI on Fox's "The X Factor" talent show this fall and NBC will promote "The X Factor" during Super Bowl XLVI Feb. 5, 2012, to help Pepsi link its sponsorship of both programs, the executives told Advertising Age.

The deal, nearing completion, appears to break new ground for broadcast networks, which normally do not promote competitors' programming, the newspaper said.

NBC has agreed to run a Pepsi commercial during the Super Bowl featuring "The X Factor" winner or winners -- hours before NBC broadcasts the second-season premiere of rival song contest "The Voice," Ad Age said.

The Super Bowl commercial will not include program logos or make overt references to "The X Factor," a person familiar with the matter told the newspaper.

But in the weeks before the game, Pepsi will say during "The X Factor" that the winning singer or singers will appear in a Super Bowl commercial, and will tell Fox viewers verbally and graphically the NFL championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis will air on NBC Feb. 5, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told the newspaper.

This will allow the Super Bowl broadcast -- the most-watched event in U.S. TV history the past two years -- to be promoted several times during a show expected to be one of the most-watched in the United States this fall, Ad Age said.

A Pepsi spokeswoman said NBC has cleared the ad to run.

Pepsi has an exclusive $60 million season-long "X Factor" sponsorship and will have its products and messages woven into the show. Its Super Bowl ad fee is not yet determined. NBC wants as much as $3.5 million for a 30-second commercial, but Pepsi will likely pay less, Ad Age said.