Network TV: I’ve fallen and I can’t get up
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008
Network TV may be coming to an end. Well, so says Tivo CEO Tom Rogers. In a letter addressed to shareholders on July 30, Rogers mapped out the issues, and potential failure, of network television. The main concern being advertising, and how products like Tivo have nearly dissolved the delicate balance between advertisers and networks.
“We are very worried for the industry… Because we do not believe as a whole that it is responding urgently enough to the massive dislocations these new dynamics will create . . . Easy commercial avoidance in the next two to three years will create such an overwhelming challenge to the economics of television that it will rock the very foundation of the industry…” said Rogers.
So what’s the solution? Rogers says it’s creating ad solutions. And I agree.
As television audiences are whizzing past commercials, thanks to Tivo and other DVRs, advertisers are beginning to wonder what they are spending their money on. It feels very similar to what is going on right now in the newspaper industry. Why would advertisers spend precious budgets on a print edition, when the online source is viewed more widely?
But with television, there is still a way to draw in advertisers. Creative ideas like product placement and digital ad overlays are becoming the industry’s new alternative to commercial advertising.
Product placement is nothing new to the television industry and is an advertising method that has been used for years. However, with the “fast forward” button glued to the fingers of audiences, product placement is now being recognized as a necessity to the advertising world.
Next time you’re watching an episode of “Flavor of Love”, check and see what flavor has been paid for. Are they sipping on Pepsi or Coke? And on “Desperate Housewives”, what cool car can they be seen driving around Wisteria Lane? My suspicion is that these products will increase almost exponentially as the television revolution continues to leave advertisers in the dust.
But the other alternative that is making waves within the industry is digital ad overlays. RGB Networks’ Jeff Tyre recently published an article highlighting the importance of digital ad overlays stating that the “value of overlaying text, graphics and images and full-motion video has been proven by broadcasters, who for years have used overlays for various applications, such as branding content with their logos, providing real-time supplemental information such as stock market tickers and local weather updates, as well as schedule-based supplemental advertising information.”
So as ad sales continue to decrease, pay close attention to the changes that will be taking place on your big screen. Are more actors typing on Macs? Are you seeing more of an increase in car ads popping up in the right hand corner of your TV? Viewers be prepared; there is a definite change in the advertising industry taking place…and it’s up to YOU to determine if it will prove successful!
