Broadcast TV

Many viewers consume a limited amount of TV in the course of the day. Those viewers characterized as “light TV viewers” watch only about 90 minutes of TV between the hours of 6 am and midnight; reaching such viewers with a TV spot be difficult, and 40% of all TV viewers fall into this category.

For more than fifty years, broadcast television has filled our living rooms with the flickering glow of a media revolution. From The Hon-eymooners to Ally McBeal, television has defined two generations of consumers. Of course, television does not possess the unifying power it once did. A viewer in decades past could tune in to Jack Benny or Milton Berle and know he was sharing the moment with nearly every other American; nowadays, with the explosion of other viewing choices such as cable, satellite TV, pay-per-view, rented videotapes, and more, the US viewing audience has become fragmented. This splintering of ad viewers has diluted TV advertising’s potency.

And not only are fewer people watching a given TV channel, but many viewers consume a limited amount of TV in the course of the day. Those viewers characterized as “light TV viewers” watch only about 90 minutes of TV between the hours of 6 am and midnight; reaching such viewers with a TV spot can be difficult, and 40 percent of all TV viewers fall into this category.¹

And now another technological marvel looms on the horizon, threatening to turn everything upside down again. That marvel is digital television (DTV). DTV is on a government-mandated track to replace the current analog system by 2006. After stalling late in 1998, the industry seems back on track, with High-Definition Television (a subset of DTV) signals being broadcast in dozens of major markets.

DTV may have any of several repercussions. First of all, it will take $1 million or more in hardware just for a TV station to pass along national digital feeds. Stations will want to recoup these costs, and will likely pass them along to advertisers. Also, DTV technology may be used to provide several standard-definition channels in the same space as one analog channel. If broadcasters opt for this route, advertisers may be faced with audience fragmentation similar to that of cable TV. Finally, new digital recorders such as TiVO allow real-time editing of commercial content, creating another headache for network and local stations alike.

Advantages

Disadvantages

Widespread: Over-the-air television reaches virtually all Americans. Ninety-eight percent of U.S. households have at least one TV.2 Time Spent: People spend a lot of time with their television sets. On average, U.S. viewers watch television about four hours a day.3 Way of Life: Baby Boomers (34-to 50-year-olds) and Generation Xers (18- to-33 year-olds) grew up with TV…and the medium continues to attract new, young audiences. Mass Exposure: Television reaches huge mass audiences with a single exposure. Visual Appeal: TV has the ability to grab attention and create appeal through the combination of pictures, sound, and motion.

Audience Share is Decreasing:Television’s network prime time audience has decreased dramatically, from 90 percent in 1980 (ABC, CBS, NBC) to just 43.3 percent (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) in July 1999. The last increase – just one ratings point, and for only one year – occurred in the 1993-94 season and was the only positive blip in a twenty-year downward spiral.4 VCR Use Decreases Viewership: As VCR use increases, the impact of TV commercials decreases. Most homes (85 percent) have at least one VCR. The. average VCR home uses the machine six hours weekly.5 Channel Surfing: When a commercial comes on, many viewers go surfing. They zip through other channels to avoid the non-program content (i.e., ads, promos and PSAs), which has grown to more than 25% of each prime-time hour.6 Viewing Decreases as Income Increases: U.S. adults who earn more than $60,000 watch 26% less television than the average viewer.7 Compare with Radio’s affluent listeners, which are actually more likely to listen to Radio as income level increases. Skyrocketing Production Costs: A typical thirty-second national commercial can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce. The creative requirements of television production result in a great drain of funds to pay for advertising agency commissions, production companies’ services, and creative directors’ salaries. Restricted Viewing: Almost all television viewing takes place in the home, making it extremely unlikely that television advertising will influence consumers close to the point of purchase.