The fading power of television advertising or not?

Vuk

I've just made a post about downloading tv episodes in the Stargate forum and while writing my post, I started to think. Downloaded episodes don't normally contain advertisements and if they do,they don;t contain regionalised and targeted advertisments, so the distributers lose out on the one thing that allows these shows to be picked up; revenue from advertising.
So I'm wondering, is televison advertising losing it power, did it even have much power to begin with?
In the days of 2 channel land, tv ads were perfect timing for toilet/tea/coffe/fag/resume conversation break, it was time to relieve our habit of tv worship. Of course we didn't need to halt our viewing every single ad break, so tv ads were viewed for the most part.
Moving forward to present day, where multi-channel viewing is the norm, how many of us combine the above with channel hopping? Are TV ads reaching the masses?
Personally I revolt to the whole advertising thing, it's neither informing nor entertaining, I choose not to watch ads. When I shop, I buy the cheapest/best/most expensive product based on my own preference.
So, opinions anyone?

ChipZilla

I suppose ads are still reaching the masses, but they're not getting to me. If I want to buy something I'll do research via Google or specialised review sites for whatever product I'm after. RTE/TV3/TG4/etc are dire and I resent having to pay a license fee for them and still be subjected to ads. A Tivo was one of my best ever telly-related purchases before I got broadband. Now I download what I want to watch and have my Sky subscription down to the minimum. The next step would be to get a FTA satellite box and get my monthly expenditure down another bit.

Vuk

Yea, I'm pretty much the same as ChipZilla, but if it was proven that everyone did the same, where does it put the future of Television? Will we have to suffer cheesy product placements or banner ads in our favourite shows?

ChipZilla

Well until wireless broadband kicks off properly, you're going to have the poor saps out in the sticks who can't download what they want to watch. They're going to have to buy Sky+ or Tivo or whatever if they want ad-free viewing. But Sky One is one of the worst offenders when it comes to pumping out the ads, and it would gall me anyway to make Murdoch's wallet any fatter by going down the Sky+ road.

I suppose if people ignore ads and the stations and advertising companies realise this, you can expect to see a LOT more product placement in TV shows themselves. And that'll be the day I stop watching telly.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

RainyDay

Like it or not, TV advertising works. Those smart goys in the morketing depts in Coke/Heiniken/P&G don't throw big money at the media unless it brings in the customers - which it does.

ChipZilla

Yeah, that article pretty much sums it up for me. Young people (in their 20s and early 30s - the "Generation X"ers) are a lot more cynical than older consumers. They're already sick of ad breaks, and I don't think they will tolerate placement either - they'll see it for the lame attempt it is. Hopefully

PBC_1966

Advertising certainly has little effect on me these days. There's hardly anything I watch at the time it's broadcast; I almost always tape programs to watch at a more convenient time, and commercials just get skipped over.

The odd bits that I see of most of them (with a few exceptions of clever advertising) would actually put me off buying their product if anything. The ads are getting more and more stupid.

mike65

I have'nt sat through a complete adbreak in some years - its of to the teletext and a quick flick through my most used channels or a raid the cupboards/fridge. Beacuse of this I also miss promos for forthcomming programmes so miss things like the PrimeTime special on the NIB.

As all transmisions go digital and with the spead of hard disk recording sooner or later the penny will drop and we'll find programmes not only all programmes getting main sponsers but we'll end up having to subscribe to individual shows!


Mike.

RuggieBear

mike65 wrote:

I have'nt sat through a complete adbreak in some years - its of to the teletext and a quick flick through my most used channels or a raid the cupboards/fridge.

I'm the same....feel like i'm been a sucker if i watch ads...on the other hand my girlfriend can quite hapilly not change the channel for a whole evening. It drives me up the wall to have to watch ads with her (The ****e programmes she likes are bad enough!!! :eek: )

p

Cabaal

RainyDay wrote:

Like it or not, TV advertising works. Those smart goys in the morketing depts in Coke/Heiniken/P&G don't throw big money at the media unless it brings in the customers - which it does.

But they are getting very scared as time goes on, the rise of DSL and on-line gaming is making the whole industry shake the little bit because less & less people are watching tv, they realise that unless things change there days are numbered.

People with Tivo's, DVR's and the ability of downloading whole seasons of there fav programs (although illegal) from the net with adverts edited out does scare them.

I used to sit in everyweekfor my fav program (stargate, startrek etc mainly sci-fi on SkyOne) now I relax because I know I can get good quality rips from the net when I want, I never miss a episode and if anything I watch more shows and episosodes then EVER before, I watch them on a TV alright but I use a modded x-box not sky one

ChipZilla

Yeah there's a lot to be said for downloading and watching the stuff you actually want to watch, instead of mindlessly flicking through channels and settling on something just to pass the next half hour... :cool:

the_syco

All I can say is; Discovery Channel rules! I'm always flicking to that, Scuzz, Kerrang, or eXtreme Sports during ad breaks
As for DL'ing stuff; I do that also, but I like to watch it on TV, as I can talk to the none-tech/bb people about what just happened. Its kinda annoying when someone says "well in the next season, all the crew but X dies", when your waiting on a cliffhanger.

Cabaal

ChipZilla wrote:

Yeah there's a lot to be said for downloading and watching the stuff you actually want to watch, instead of mindlessly flicking through channels and settling on something just to pass the next half hour... :cool:

There certainly is
Also I'd have to agree with the_syco, Discovery Channel rules..well for the most part, they do have a habit of repeating stuff alot but most of the time its very interesting
One channel I do wish I had full-time was Euronews but because I'm on NTL Basic I don't get the whole channel and only get to watch it on TG4 and NET2/RTE.
If I had my choice of channels it would be Discovery Channel, Nation Geographic and Euronews, I could live on downloaded eps after that