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TV viewers by now are accustomed to
seeing product placement in their favorite shows. But how will they react
upon seeing "program placement" in their commercials?
On John King's new early-evening news show on CNN, every commercial runs
with a small window at the bottom of the screen offering a live view of
the show's set. That's right -- the show, "John King, USA," in a sense
continues into the commercials, with viewers able to see activity between
producers and talent as well as a broader graphic offering news and
tidbits from around the nation.
With marketers now paying for TV ad time based on the number of people
watching commercials (rather than TV shows, as was once the norm) networks
are working to diminish the sense viewers have long had that advertising
interrupts their favorite programs. To keep people riveted, why not keep
the show going alongside the ads?
"Networks and marketers continue to think about how the break from program
to commercial back to program can be much more clouded, more obfuscated,"
said John Moore, exec VP-director of media services at Interpublic Group
of Cos.' Mullen agency. With DVRs allowing people to skip ads altogether,
marketers appear ready -- shockingly -- to give up some of their screen
time in hopes that TV show content will keep viewers from leaving. The
challenge: "Thinking about what's in it for the consumer," he added.
Not every program has content that readily works alongside commercials. So
CNN is taking this step gingerly. "We aren't going to do this across the
board in every daypart and every program. It's got to make sense," said
Greg D'Alba, exec VP and chief operating officer of CNN advertising sales.
He calls the insertion of content during "John King" ad breaks"the only
regularly scheduled CNN program that has any sort of graphic element
placed alongside commercials"a "test" that could be used elsewhere on the
schedule if feedback is positive and similar content can be made to work
with other programming.
Bubbling idea
Others have experimented with similar ideas. Interpublic's DraftFCB
approached NBC about having a "split screen" during its now-canceled "Jay
Leno Show" at 10 p.m., so that viewers could see a commercial and also see
what Mr. Leno and others were up to, according to a spokesman for the
agency. The idea was scuttled after NBC ended the show. Mr. Moore's Mullen
has talked with ESPN about having an advertiser's logo or the first few
seconds of a commercial appear on a screen behind on-air personnel during
a show, then letting the content on the screen gradually fill the TV view.
CNN's foray comes as the Time Warner cable-news network has been suffering
from lackluster ratings during its weekday prime-time schedule. If the
method is successful during "John King," which airs at 7 p.m., CNN could
have a better crowd for its first prime-time program, "Campbell Brown," at
8 p.m. "If it creates a better viewership and higher ratings, I think
that's great," said Mr. D'Alba.
The new on-air "window" has its roots in CNN coverage of live political
events, said David Bohrman, CNN's senior VP-Washington bureau chief. With
viewers tuning in for election coverage and results in 2006 and 2008, the
network gave them information and updates during ads, he said, with
"banner boards" at the bottom of the TV screen. "By the time we got to the
inauguration, we had upgraded our technology and were able to put video in
that little thing," he explained. With "John King" viewed as something of
a political-coverage linchpin, offering similar information during
commercials made sense.
Other TV networks have found adding content to ad breaks helps viewership.
At Walt Disney's ESPN, sports fans are regularly treated to sports news
running in tickers at the bottom of the TV screen during ad breaks of
programs with news content (games and long-form programs don't have
tickers). Executives have found that viewers keep their eyes on the
advertising 81% of the time, said Artie Bulgrin, ESPN's senior VP-research
and analytics.
Stock-quote tickers are standard during ad breaks on NBC Universal's CNBC
and News Corp.'s Fox Business Channel; viewers expect such stuff. At CNBC,
"we feel it does help our advertisers, and we do see this as a way to
retain viewership during commercial breaks," said Robert Foothorap,
VP-global ad sales at CNBC.
MSNBC has in recent months added mini-segments during its "Countdown With
Keith Olbermann" and "The Rachel Maddow Show" to ad breaks, according to a
spokesman for the network. The hosts may bring up a new topic in a
30-second or one-minute segment, and executives believe adding the content
conditions viewers to stick around during commercials, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, the extra screen time doesn't seem to be affecting the crew on
CNN's "John King." Viewers can see a camera is trained on their activity
-- moving chairs around, talking with the host -- but "by and large, the
staff has completely forgotten that it's there," said Mr. Bohrman.
Source: AdAge, 04/19/2010 |