The History of Broadcasting and Advertising Flashcards

Broadcast media-- But with the advent of cable TV, many programs are now transmitted electronically through wires rather than broadcast through the air.

Broadcast and cable

Reaches its audience by transmitting electromagnetic waves through the air across geographic territories, 5 major TV networks; Increasing competition from cable TV is causing the national network programs to lose viewers.

It has grown faster than any other advertising medium in history. The United States has over 1,685 commercial TV stations. About half of the stations are VHF (very high frequency, channels 2 through 13); the other half are UHF (ultrahigh frequency, channels 14 through 83). Stations operate independently unless they are network affiliates (ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX).

Network affiliates and independent stations may subscribe to nationally syndicated programs, as well as originate their own programming.

The U.S. has more than 1,600 local commercial TV stations and over 10,000 local radio stations as well as major TV and radio networks, including ABC, CBS, ABC, and Fox. More than 10,000 local cable systems serve more than 68 million subscribers.

As a way to reach a mass audience, no other medium today has the unique creative abilities of television: the combination of sight, sound, and motion; the opportunity to demonstrate a product; the potential to use special effects; the empathy of the viewer; and the believability of seeing it happen right before your eyes.

•Viewers rate television as the most 1) authoritative, 2) influential, and 3) persuasive medium. •Most programming is directed at the heaviest group of viewers: middle-income, high-school–educated individuals and their families. •The number of hours that TV is viewed has increased steadily. The average home has TV/cable/VCR on for 8 hours every day; children and teenagers view an average of 21 hours per week. (ads=expensive b/c of it) •In the United States and Canada, older women watch TV the most, at 36 hours per week (increase as get older) •Individual program audiences vary widely. Households with cable watch less broadcast TV, spend less time listening to radio, reading, or going to the movies. The result of this is “audience fragmentation.” •Video and DVD rentals have also increased dramatically, drawing more viewers away from all advertiser-supported TV (cable & broadcast), which is why ads on videos have started appearing, although slowly.

Pros •Mass coverage •Relatively low cost per viewer •Some selectivity •Persuasion power (big one, people trust tb and broadcast b/c traditional) •Impact •Creativity •Prestige •Social dominance**Networks offer large advertisers convenience and efficiency because their message can be broadcast simultaneously throughout the country. The broadcast networks tend to reach masses of American consumers, a cross-section of the population, while the cable networks tend to reach more selective niches.

Cons •High production cost (ave 350,000 for 30 second spot, higher with special)•High airtime cost (a lot especially for live b/c not DVR) •Long lead times (can't be time sensitive) •Limited selectivity •Audience fragmentation (hard to talk to everyone) •Brevity •Clutter •Zipping and zapping

Today other electronic media are changing the 30-year dominance of broadcast TV. Chief among the challengers is cable television. There are now more than 25 national cable networks in the United States and a growing number of regional networks. There are also a handful of superstations, local over-the-air TV stations whose signals are delivered via satellite to cable systems across the country and that carry some national advertising. In 2005, cable reached 85 percent of all homes. There are now 65 ad-supported cable networks. Major cable networks (USA, A&E, and CNN) and specialized offerings, such as QVC, Cinemax, and American Movie Classics (AMC), are just some of the choices available on many cable systems.ESPN, CNN, Weather, HBO

Cable reaches 90% + of TV households Most consumers receive more than 100 channels, but watch only 15-19 channels Cable households watch more hours of TV than non-cable households •56.2 hours per week vs. 41.6 hours, watching 22.8 hours of cable programming per week
Most channels are privately owned Cable fees make up about 1/3 of cable revenues Cable advertising revenues are growing fast •National advertising •Local advertising

Pros Selectivity Audience demographics Low cost Flexibility Testability Cons Limited reach Fragmentation Quality Zipping and zapping (dvr)*local cable is bad with limited reach and bad ads

The DVR Effect •~50% in the US in 2011 The digital video recorder (DVR), introduced in 1999, makes it possible to skip every commercial. In response, some networks are offering hit shows commercial free in a fee-based, video-on-demand format. However, nobody expects the demise of the TV commercial. The Movie (VHS/DVD) Effect •Movie watchers watch less TV, but do tend to watch the ads/previews in movies The Internet Effect •Watching shows on TV Internet sites (with more & more advertising)
Alternative media for TV advertisers in the event large numbers of consumers could skip commercialsRecession hurt ad spending a bit but it is growing again and still largest amount of ad spending

•TV is good for delivery of certain messages to large, well-defined audiences. Television has no rival for image, awareness advertising, and brand reinforcement messages. •TV is a leverage tool—low CPM with high visibility. If the creative is good, TV increases “ad liking,” a characteristic that improves brand image
** therefore, tv ads are still important in IMC when 1) target audience is mass and well defined, 2) brand image/awareness/and or brand reinforcement is the message (good for LT brand building not for initial sales to push, just putting image in mind) and the goal is high visibility with low CPM (price per person is efficient but total is high)