BellaOnline Forums TV and Movies Prime Time TV Does advertising pay off?

If advertisers pay money for their products to be seen on television, how are they being successful if so many shows are being recorded? Don't most people just fast forward through the commercials? How can the advertisers know if their products are actually being seen by the audience? Doesn't that just waste advertiser's money?

I have a DVR and never watch commercials except in the fast speed the go by when fast forwarding. I guess that depends on how many people out there either use a DVR or still use a VCR and tape set up.

The only commercials I pay any attention to are the ones that show upcoming programming like those mini series that Tom Selleck does or award shows.

I think the advertising in sporting events is probably more useful because I have never met a guy that would be content with watching his football game or whatever recorded, they want to be in front of the TV and watch it live.

Lisa, that is true and I never thought about the fact that advertisers COULD make alot of their money during televised sports. I know that there are quite a few of these events during the year, but what about the rest of the year?

Trish

Right now, DVRs can be found in about 30% of American homes. While that number is likely to increase significantly over the next decade, it is still relatively small with regard to impact on television advertising. And, DVR owners are still watching shows in real-time. By and large, the number of advertisements viewed in real-time far outweighs the number of advertisements skipped over by DVR playbacks. That said, a change is bound to come! As DVR and OnDemand viewings become more popular, television advertising methods will have to shift over time to reflect the changes in viewing habits.

I've read that many advertisers are already addressing how to get to the DVR audience. One way is with ads that are catchy, like the Cavemen ads, where people might want to watch where they tell a story. Another way is giving prizes or having people enter online contests they find out about in an ad.

Another way is to insert the products into the shows themselves, like characters drinking a certain soda or something. Movies do this all the time and make money at it.

We now have a DVR and we do skip the commercials. Even if you pause the show for 10 minutes to do something else, you can then skip commercials til you catch up to the real time show. I wasn't sure I wanted to get a DVR but my husband did. Now I love it!

I love ours, too!

Trish

Joan, I think you're right about product placement. It's going to become much more prevalent in shows. I was highly annoyed by the most recent episode of Heroes where they actually wrote product placement into the script. I fear this is the wave of the future.