TV Ad Dollars Losing Value?
Meridith Hinman
I have never been one to plan my life around television shows. When I’m home and have the TV on, I usually find something okay to watch. Now that the invention of the DVR is an option through the cable company, I am hooked. I would hear about all these great shows on NBC, ABC and FOX, but I was never home to see them. Now with a DVR I record a few shows a week, so when I am home and do have the time to watch them, I can watch what I want to. The DVR is great; the best part is when you are watching a show that you recorded you can fast forward through the commercials…or is that the best part?
Working in the advertising industry and especially in the media placement side of advertising the DVR might be putting us out of a job. Is it possible that the value of our advertising dollars on television don’t hold value anymore? On the positive side I have read that the DVR can offer a look at the viewers’ habits and behavior since most devices record user activity in fine detail. Since most DVRs require Internet connectivity, viewers’ information can be stored for marketers use. This still doesn’t help the fact that commercials are being ignored. Don’t you think it’s odd that advertisers’ pay cable companies to run their ads and cable companies turn around and sell a product to their customers that allow them to block the ads?
If the DVR stays around, I think the Internet will become the biggest outlet for advertising, if it’s not already. The Internet has grown exponentially in every way, so it makes sense to say that Internet advertising is definitely on the rise. As for the DVR, I love the concept of watching shows when I want to, but maybe they can remove the fast forward feature? When it really comes down to it, I love my job so much more than the DVR.