Devoted to hardware, software, IT issues, and information technology management

By YC from the Technocrat Soapbox,
Guest Blogger

The landscape for TV advertising is rapidly changing. And this is not just due to TiVo, RePlayTV, and DVRs (either home-brewed or provided by Satellite/Cable Companies), although they played a huge part in stunting the growth, it is actually the ever-changing ways humans absorb information that is killing the effectiveness of TV advertising. Some might argue that it's technology that affords us the plethora of choices, but that's getting into the Chicken-and-egg debate.

These days, chasing the heels of the hugely successful iPod Video and iTunes are Media Networks (e.g. ABC and NBC), offering their programs (e.g. Lost, The Office) for download at an affordable $1.99 per episode, COMMERCIAL FREE! Telecommunication providers like Sprint and Verizon have also joined the bandwagon, offering subscribers the ability to stream live TV Programs to their cellular phones. And then there is this new device called the SlingBox (from SlingMedia) that allows a user to watch his/her local TV programs anywhere in the world.

With so many new information and entertainment medium vying for consumer attention, what is left for conventional TV? Or TV commercials for that matter?

Media and Advertising companies are scrambling to change their operational strategies as the effectiveness of TV advertising wanes. Advertising on the Internet have increased dramatically following the success of programs like Google AdSense, Google AdWords, and Yahoo Publishers' Network. Companies wanting to reach a larger audience have also changed their marketing strategies. Most notably, Heineken in the U.K. (read Dirk Spiers' very well written 'TV Advertising is dying and how Apple and Intel are speeding it up'), where the company has stopped its TV advertising campaigns in favor of Sports Sponsorship. Others like BMW, Ericsson, and Burger King, have chosen to capture the human psyche by surreptitiously appearing in movies and video games. "Tomorrow Never Dies," "The Italian Job," "The Fast and the Furious," "Need for Speed: Underground 2" are a few examples. Still skeptical, look at what Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" did for Christian revivalism (some called it "Right-Wing Fundamentalism"). What?!! You calling Jesus Christ a "BRAND"? How dare you! We will burn you at the stake and put your head on a pike, along with all those who support Evolution.

And recently, Sun Microsystems have chosen to loan its Sun Fire T2000 Servers to customers for 60-days. According to Sun, each loan becomes roughly a sale of 15 servers afterwards. This strategy is clearly more effective [and cheaper] than doughing out millions of TV advertising dollars during the Superbowl for a mere 30-second air time [which viewers can now easily skip]. What could inspire more confidence than actually letting the customer try a product RISK FREE? TV commercials certainly can't.

I was on vacation in the U.K. several years ago. To this day, my most memorable English experience was not the visit to Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Harrods, or even a traditional English 'pub,' but rather, the amazement of how few commercial interruptions there were on TV. With fewer TV commercials, one might think that the program quality must be very poor. Quite the contrary, I would choose British TV programs (and even British TV commercials) any day over American ones, except NFL and NBA games.

Maybe the American Networks can learn a thing or two from their British counterparts.

Besides Media Network Executives, I doubt that anybody will be crying over the loss or marginalization of TV commercials. It will be interesting to see the quality of Superbowl commercials this January, which has been slipping since the dot-com bust.