Skip Through The Ads My Darlin'

No wonder the majority of new shows each season tank - it turns out, in this era of DVRs and OnDemand programming, TV execs are spending more time finding ways to develop ad revenue than they are developing new series.

From a certain standpoint, I can appreciate this. Ultimately, if they can't sell ads, we won't get television for nearly as inexpensively as we do now. Unless we want a glut of a quasi-reality, American Idol type shows; cheap to produce and hand-over fist money makers.

The problem is they're focusing on the wrong problem. DVRs provide essentially the same function as VCRs, which have been around for close to 30 years. Why the sudden scare that commercial viewership is decreasing? Granted a DVR will allow you to only slightly time shift a program (say start watching it 10 minutes in), where with a VCR you have to wait until the show is done recording. However, with the limited numbers of DVRs in use I have to ask again, what is the sudden scare? It can't be any sort of pre-emptive strike, American businesses having proven time and again that they are too shortsighted to be proactive. So what is it that they are actually reacting to?

Got me. Even though I skip through the ads most times when watching recorded programs, I sometimes will stop and go back if something catches my eye. For instance I'm a big fan of the Mac ads, so if I catch a glimpse while one is going by at the speed of a freight train, I back up the program to check it out. Same goes for something that looks quirky or funny in high-speed; I'll go back to play it in real time to see if it was. When watching a show "live" however, I usually just change the channel to something else and wait out the commercial break - thank goodness for dual-tuner DVRs. In this scenario the advertisers actually fair better when I'm watching something I've recorded or time-shifted on the DVR.

Contrary to what they teach in business school, advertising can be successful without being in your face. A poorly designed ad will fail no matter how high it's volume or obnoxious it's presence. A well designed ad however, even one playing on a TV used primarily as background noise, can still catch the interest of the essentially uninterested viewer. So can a well-thought-out product placement.

You know what I remember more than the commercials that aired during an episode or season of The Office weeks or even months after it has ended? The fact that they have Staples products strewn throughout the Dunder-Mifflin complex. The irony of this juxtaposition makes this memorable enough, but the fact that I notice, and chuckle at it every week makes it even more so. Staples is getting every bit of their money's worth out of that deal.

Product placements can work, and don't necessarily have to lessen the integrity of the show. Of course, if they are done poorly and out of context - see the J&J Acuvue placement in a Smallville episode from a couple seasons ago - the results can be horrific. I'm willing to risk it however, if for no other reason than the hope that it might free up some time for the suits to work on giving us some innovative programming.

The Kids Aren't So Alright Anymore and General Miscellany

Baby Boomers are feeling left behind by today's TV programmers and advertisers. According to a recent study by Harris Interactive, folks in the 49+ demo feel "alienated" by what's on their TVs these days; both the shows and the ads.

Depending on what you watch and where you watch it, they may be justified. There are a lot of shows and, accordingly, a lot of ads that are targeted towards a much younger demographic than those of the boomer generation. As described in an article by the AP's David Bauder:

The theory among advertisers is that it's important to reach young people as their preferences are forming — get them hooked on a certain toothpaste or soda early and they'll be hooked for life. Advertisers will pay a premium for young viewers: $335 for every thousand people in the 18-to-24 age range that a network delivers, for example. Viewers aged 55-to-64 are worth only $119 for every thousand, according to Nielsen Media Research.

I've never been able to see the logic in the second part of that statement. People in the 18-24 range are, in my mind, less apt to watch as much TV as those in the 55-64 range. Not only that, but 18 to 24 yr olds have a heck of lot less discretionary income. So why pay a premium to reach people who aren't as reachable or as able to afford your product? And as far as preferences are concerned, everyone has favorite brands, but when money is tight (which it usually is when your in your late teens/early 20s) price is usually all that matters. Find the biggest dolt in any college dorm and he'll know you get a better deal buying a case of Milwaukee's Best than a 12 pack of Sam Adam's. What's more is that's he's probably never seen a commercial for the "beast".

The results of the study are prompting some in the industry to question whether the above ratios make sense anymore. But while programming execs and marketing agents need to consider whether they are willing to alienate their biggest demographic just on the hope that they can create brand loyalty among a smaller group of viewers, they should also consider the words of Evan Shapiro, head of the Independent Film Channel:

"If you are a 50-year-old male or female, there is an enormous amount of television for you. It's just not on all the places that it used to be."

You know what? He's right. I stopped whining years ago about how crappy MTV had become and just accepted I was no longer part of the channel's target market. Besides, there are other channels that do what MTV used to do, and who do it better. Twenty years ago that might not have been true, and though the major networks are still behind the curve in orignial and innovative models of programming, the niche programming provided by cable allows for unheard of possibilities for both viewers and advertisers.

Miscellaneous Notes

• ABC has put "The Nine" on indefinite hiatus. They say the show will return, but are not forthcoming as to when.

• For those who still watch, and I'm not one of them, tonight is the fall finale of "Prison Break". New episodes should return in January to coincide with the start of the sixth season of "24".

• "Scrubs" returns for it's sixth season Thursday night following "30 Rock", for which NBC requested three more scripts. Let's hope they request additional episodes.