Advertising is the lifeblood of free, commercial television. It provides the finances for broadcasters to air television programs. A product such as the personal video recorder (PVR) with the ability to eliminate television advertisements or in cause major time-shift changes which effects how they watch “live� television is a foundation for havoc. “…the digital video recorder and virtual advertising, are seen by many within the industry as potentially disruptive of the medium’s established textual and economic practices.� (Boddy, 2004:124) However, in reality the initial concerns placed upon the disappearance of commercial television have not been so drastic to the current time, though this is likely to change when the PVR becomes more popular. A recent study by the Yankee Group forecasts, “that PVR use by Americans will rise from less than 4 percent today to more than 20 percent by 2007. That could cost TV networks $5.5 billion annually within four years, more than 10 percent of the $50 billion spent on commercials today.� (http://money.cnn.com/2003/09/24/pf/all_ads_everywhere, Accessed 28 Oct 2004)
PVR Monitor 2002 statistics showed “74% of PVR owners always (27%) or frequently (47%) fast forward through the commercials,� the same reported “71% of PVR users said they would be willing to watch some ads, especially if the ad is entertaining (92%) or if they are specifically interested in the product (69%).� (http://www.emerging.com/viewpoint/grill_7.18.02_pvr.shtml, Accessed 8 August 2004) Most owners of a PVR unit take advantage of asynchronous viewing unless it is the news, or a live event such as sports or an awards show (http://www.emerging.com/viewpoint/grill_7.18.02_pvr.shtml, Accessed 8 August 2004), therefore advertising companies do have opportunities to get their product heard. Advertisers cannot be complacent, with this new technology they have the ability to reach beyond a scope which was prior in existence. In enabling the “fast-forward� mode on a PVR unit, the advertisements quickly flash across as still images, due to the digital format. There is a chance for products to be heard if the right angle is taken. Roberts (2004), worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi says, “It’s actually creatively exciting because you have to make things watchable. You can no longer bludgeon people with bland advertising.�
There are other channels for advertisers to be heard, such as “…the ability of the digital video recorder is to continuously track users’ viewing preferences, offering sponsors and broadcasters the long-sought prospect of delivering specific commercials to individually targeted consumers.� (Boddy, 2004:105) This would not differ from how broadcasters specifically air advertisements now, during specific timeslots for their demographics. This idea fits ideally with a new creation of SeaChange International, where they have created an “Ad Placement System, lets cable operators serve ads based on information such as subscriber location and the time of day video-on-demand (VOD) content is actually watched.� (http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3336661, Accessed Oct 28 2004)
REFERENCES
Anderson, G. T. (2004) “Life as a product placement,� retrieved October 28, 2004, from this source.
Boddy, W. (2004) New Media and Popular Imagination – Launching Radio, Television, and Digital Media in the United States, New York: Oxford University Press ISBN 0198711468
Grill, B. (2002) “PVR Is Coming - Tivo Turncoat Tips off Advertisers,� retrieved August 8, 2004, from this source.
Rodgers, Z. (2004) “Fighting PVRs with Online Ad Techniques,� retrieved October 28, 2004, from this source.
Sophocleous, A. (2004) “Get set for the TiVo-lution,� AdNews 7 May 2004, pp. 1.
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Related topics: Growth and Development, Brands, Privacy Issues, Intellectual Property, Hackers
Linda Wong 09:04, 29 Oct 2004 (EST)
