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| Networks Trying to Foil Commercial-Skipping DVRs |
| 2007-05-29 |
| Some of the most creative thinking in television these days has nothing to do with comedy or drama. It's about the commercials. Fueled by a growing sense of desperation, networks are inserting games, quizzes and mini-dramas into commercial breaks. They're incorporating more product pitches into programming. Two experimental programs without traditional commercial breaks will premiere this fall. NBC has even called on Jerry Seinfeld for help. There's only a couple of network shows I bother with, anyway, but there's this "steep and slippery slope" thingee... This is all being done to stop viewers with DVRs from fast-forwarding through advertisements, or to circumvent those that do. Adding to the urgency, this week Nielsen Media Research begins offering ratings for commercial breaks, instead of just the shows around them. "We all need to become more creative in how we incorporate sponsors into a program," said Ed Swindler, executive vice president for NBC Universal ad sales. "No one on the creative side or the business side wants to make commercials intrusive, but we do need to commercialize efficiently so viewers can afford to get free television." An estimated 17 percent of American homes now have digital video recorders. Nielsen estimates that in prime-time, nearly half of 18-to-49-year-old viewers with DVRs are watching recorded programs instead of live ones. Of these, six in 10 skip through the ads. Figure in bathroom breaks and channel surfers, and that makes for a lot of missed opportunities for marketers - with a lot more coming as DVR use grows. So far, the most frequent experiment is to insert original content into commercial breaks. The CW network pioneered "content wraps" last year where, in one example, a hair care company ditched the typical ad to present beauty tips and interviews with the network's stars, all involving the company's products. The CW figured on doing six content wraps at first, but advertisers were so enthusiastic that 20 were done, a spokesman said. TNT aired a five-episode mini-drama about a young woman, with viewers directed to a Web site - plastered with the sponsoring credit card company's ads - for the finale. Fox created an animated taxi driver, Oleg, who would appear during breaks talking to his passengers. Next month Court TV offers a mystery about an unsolved murder with clues dropped in commercial breaks, online and via text messages; the game's winner gets $25,000. Fans of NBC's "Scrubs" were asked trivia questions at the beginning of a commercial break, the answer appearing in between ads. Seinfeld will appear in several quick comedy skits for NBC next fall that also promote his upcoming movie. TBS has tried making commercial breaks a destination. It often bunches a series of funny commercials together and promotes them ahead of time to viewers. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #9 #2: "Or to improve the shows?" Silly Mom. RJim's idea had a much better chance.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-05-29 21:46 |
| #8 They're incorporating more product pitches into programming. Anybody remember the television exec calling people who didn't watch commercials "thieves"? This is a serious issue for broadcast programmers. Recall that long ago television ceased to be driven by viewer preference and instead by marketing demographics. Television is no longer being sold to the viewer, you are being sold to the advertisers. Previous ad detection devices sensed abrupt volume changes or drastic shifts in formatting. Ads are usually much louder and have very different aspect ratios. The DVR has changed all of that rather dramatically. What you will see in the future is extreme product placement. Sponsors' goods and branding will appear directly in the show. Verbal comments upon an actor's attire will explicitly mention the name of the maker. An episode might center upon the purchase of a particular model of car. There has even been discussion of having programs take place in the office buildings of certain sponsors or involve tours of the facility during the show. Anything to get facetime with the audience. Remember this is what brought you least common denominator television programming. They could give a damn about what sort of dreck you watch so long as it sells the latest widget for their advertisers. I wonder what percentage of the price of consumer commodities is advertising. A study way back in the 1960s showed that for a Cadillac automobile, the advertising was the second most expensive component of the final product. It broke down to something like $75.00 per emblem on the vehicle. It can only have gotten worse by now. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-05-29 18:41 |
| #7 Make 20 minute ads filmed in super slo-mo. Problem solved. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2007-05-29 15:43 |
| #6 Free TV is not free. I wonder what percentage of the price of consumer commodities is advertising. I've been done with network TV for years. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-05-29 10:54 |
| #5 Nobody's being "ripped off", you whiny bitches. The networks get paid to run the commercials. But I notice nobody is paying me to watch the damned things. |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-05-29 10:46 |
| #4 Keep it coming. This is why people steal. They know it isn't right but they know they are being ripped off so mark it under self defense. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-05-29 10:36 |
| #3 I started watching a 1.5 hr movie for the first time in ages the other day - then 1 hr into it I noticed it had two hours yet to run, and the ads were so thick I was having trouble remembering the plot. - so THEY KILLED THE GOLDEN GOOSE - good riddance! |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-05-29 10:21 |
| #2 Or to improve the shows? |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2007-05-29 09:54 |
| #1 I suppose it's out of the question to actualy improve the commercials? |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-05-29 06:26 |