The new age of television promises a more fluid and customizable experience with nearly infinite fragmentation of content, and increased competition for eyeballs.
While technology is revealing some interesting possibilities, the reports of the death of TV have been greatly exaggerated: it remains a potent and durable medium.
Television continues to be among our most powerful and enduring entertainment options. Despite the cries of naysayers, there is little evidence that total TV viewership of TV-oriented programming is experiencing a decline.
However, there is little question that how viewers are consuming this material has fundamentally changed. The adoption of new technologies like digital video recorders (DVRs) and the proliferation of available sources of video entertainment have given viewers the ability to have more control over what they watch and how, and where they watch it.
DVRs introduced time shifting and commercial skipping to the delight of enthusiastic viewers everywhere. More and more consumers are now able to download many of their favourite programs to their laptops, mobile devices, and their living-room TV set. In addition, some audiences are no longer worried about missing entire seasons of shows such as Lost and 24, and are either renting or buying whole seasons on DVD when they come out, often a year later. Others are fooling around on networking sites like Facebook and MySpace or exchanging user-generated videos and clips from The Office on YouTube.
Until very recently television was a system made up of three inextricably linked parts: the set, the signal, and the shows. Broadcasters determined what was produced, how it was distributed and when it went to air. In doing so, they held viewers to a strict schedule that suited their business model. Viewers happily gathered around the set in the evenings and accepted the advertising, largely because they didn't know it any other way. Today, technological advances have undermined this bargain.
Nowadays the TV set is no longer the box in the corner of the living room, it's a digital monitor, as welcoming of a computer interface as it is a channel guide.
The liberation of the set from the signal has made possible all the changes we are now seeing. Content is now free to roam across platforms allowing viewers to consume whatever content they want through various means of delivery. Entertainment options can now be managed as easily as any online experience. On-demand entertainment is no longer subject to schedules set by broadcasters. In essence, the TV set is akin to an all-you-can-eat buffet, which can pull content from a long list of sources.
Of course finding quality content can be a difficult process and that is why traditional broadcasting models still continue to flourish. Broadcasters still provide a menu of program choices and satellite and cable services determine channel line-ups.
Most broadcasters are content creators and all develop programming for their affiliate stations. But they still rely on buying content from other studios that have no broadcast function, such as Sony.
Without a monopoly on television, broadcasters may find themselves in more intense competition with those producers who might find it compelling to create their own de facto stations to distribute their content directly to consumers, rather than through traditional broadcasting channels.
What's an advertiser to do?
While there is no denying the power of traditional awareness spots that run during program breaks, some marketers may be looking for alternatives or enhancements to their campaigns. The internet has made marketing more social by making word-of-mouth viral and scalable. Companies can more actively court consumers to participate in their brands and to become evangelists by aligning with properties that not only fit with an advertiser's brand but will generate buzz and feed the viral animal.
To achieve this, would-be advertisers might consider a look at other alternative marketing methods.
Sponsorship
In the early days of television, most shows were brought to you by a product or company. That trend receded as the popularity of the medium grew and more advertisers wanted in. But sponsorship is making a comeback and is clearly evident in the world of sports, where corporations routinely sponsor events and acquire naming rights.
Product placement
Contextual advertising has also been around for some time in the form of product placement where advertisers have their products written into the storylines of top shows. But with the introduction of more internet-related functionality, contextual advertising promises much greater interactivity with brands and more metrics for marketers.
Branded content
When an advertiser becomes an investor they can work directly with production companies to develop programming and benefit from the success. There is already risk in advertising on unproven shows, and that risk will only intensify as entertainment options grow.
Conclusion
With all the tools that corporate advertisers and marketers have at their disposal, there has never been a more exciting time in history to build and mange brands.
The emotional power of TV remains while it is made more functional with the addition of internet capabilities.
Source: Admap| May 2008, "The new television" |