Another reason to stop watching telly...

[Scouse]

When the ITV spokesman says "customers are becoming a lot more clever in avoiding advertising" does that mean TV companies should get more powers to force us to watch adverts, even during programmes?

I mean, when ITV was first thought of the regulators decided it was OK for them to show adverts in small segments which broke up the programs. If people wanted to get up and make a cuppa then fine...

Videos have been around ages but now they're complaining that "set-top boxes allow viewers to record programmes and then fast-forward through advertisments".

EXACTLY! Like we've been able to for 25 years!

I'm beginning to wonder where the corporate world is going to end...

 

[rynnor]

I think it will be hilarious - I cant really imagine it working but think how laughable their content will look - lol!

 

[Raven]

Well I guess its like the internet, like most people with more than one braincell I use firefox with AdBlock+ not seen a single web based advert in months. There are ways to lessen the damage adverts do to a TV show.

I sky+ anything I want to watch on TV and fast forward through the breaks. If they force other adverts on me I will simply torrent stuff or buy the DVD box sets.

Personally I would like to see the end of commercial TV and replace it with fully pay-per-view TV. It would be a perfect way to cull the shite that is cramming the airwaves because anything not worth watching will just not make any money.

 

[nath]

That's not entirely accurate. There's tonnes of shit on tele that's not even remotely worth watching and yet makes loads of money. Reality TV being the prime culprit.

 

[Yoni]

That's not entirely accurate. There's tonnes of shit on tele that's not even remotely worth watching and yet makes loads of money. Reality TV being the prime culprit.

Reality TV is my prime reason for never turning the television on... I download from BBC etc programmes I want to watch then do so when I want... it is totally the way forward.

 

[Ignition]

ITV are in a fairly bad state financially, no wonder they are looking for any way possible to raise cash.

I've no fundamental problem with subtle product placement, and if it were possible for it to totally replace invasive advertising that would rock.

If it were just a case of assaulting people with ads during, before and after breaks then, well, they wonder why people download shows from the internet...

It's a sulk to PVRs and the like I imagine. There are technical solutions in progress to try and ensure that people with PVRs cannot fast forward through adverts, but same as everything else, either the business model changes to accomodate the advance of technology or they get left behind.

 

[nath]

It seems pretty absurd, I mean if you're losing money why make watching your channel less appealing?

 

[DaGaffer]

Well I guess its like the internet, like most people with more than one braincell I use firefox with AdBlock+ not seen a single web based advert in months. There are ways to lessen the damage adverts do to a TV show.

Except that's not true is it? Every time you go to Google you see a shitload of ads, and because people don't respond to/block banners etc. all the money is being concentrated with Google. And just because you may not click sponsored links, it doesn't mean they don't work (trust me, they do - I make hundreds of thousands of pounds of sales via Google every week). Bottom line is that ads will find a way (and strangely, I prefer TV ads with production values rather than Google getting all the money in the world).

I sky+ anything I want to watch on TV and fast forward through the breaks. If they force other adverts on me I will simply torrent stuff or buy the DVD box sets.

This is precisely their point. When everyone does it, the effectiveness of advertising drops, ad money heads for other media, particularly the internet, fewer programmes get made (to oversimplify dramatically).

Personally I would like to see the end of commercial TV and replace it with fully pay-per-view TV. It would be a perfect way to cull the shite that is cramming the airwaves because anything not worth watching will just not make any money.

It simply won't work. A simple analysis of the number of broadcast hours in a day will tell you that. PPV serves certain niches, but even PPV successes like HBO wouldn't work without free-to-air syndication of their shows after the first PPV run.

The first instinct of most people, when they hear a TV exec (or music publisher etc.) mention creative ways to keep their businesses alive, is to react as everyone here has, with ranting, but ultimately they have to make money or go under. In this kind of hostile market, the endgame is to make ads unavoidable, and ultimately we have no-one to blame but ourselves.

 

[nath]

How are the other networks doing financially? It strikes me that if ITV are doing poorly the most obviously culprit is the content. It's just an awful, awful channel.

 

[Scouse]

ultimately we have no-one to blame but ourselves.

I was with you for a while but you lost me with this sentence.

LOAD OF SHIT.


Grrrrr n' stuff.

 

[Billargh]

Yeah, you've got to be a right clever bastard to to make a cuppa/swtich channel during the adverts.

 

[Fweddy]

I work for ITV

 

[DaGaffer]

I was with you for a while but you lost me with this sentence.

LOAD OF SHIT.


Grrrrr n' stuff.

LOL. Ask yourself this question; if every...single...programme on TV was excellent, would you still skip through the ads? Of course you would. The technology is there, so you will.

So, assume pay tv won't work (trust me it won't), what other ways do you expect TV companies to make money? And let's assume the TV companies have to operate in a commercial, capitalist system (just so we don't get sidetracked ). The only alternate model I can think of is an expanded licence fee, and I'm dubious that would work either, doesn't scale enough.

 

[bob269]

I'd like to make a sandwich between ads but i use too many rounds of bread and ultimately miss the programme when it starts again

DaGaffer, technology has changed, so has business, we don't need constant ads rammed down our throats but it's needed to fund the 400million crap channels we don't actually watch. Ad space has gone rediculous to the point that people now hate it, sky channels have 5-6mins ad breaks every 3 minutes, the channels are doubled via +1 etc. bottom line is there's fuck all good on tv (yes on all 400 million channels) so people are moving away from tv and downloading specific (albeit rare) programmes they wanna watch. The advertising agency has shot it's self in the foot by flooding the world with crap.

TV companies will make money when they admit they don't need 2,3,4,5 etc versions of the same channel (They've been making money all these years with 1 channel). The problem is they think by having more channels they get more airplay. Wrong, Scrap all the crap, reduce channels back to a sensible level thus reducing costs, job done

 

[Scouse]

I'd add to the above - companies have no right to make sure we see their products. If we don't want to watch adverts then that's the consumer's perogative.

If companies can't compete they should DIE. (Works for everyone unless you're a bank).

The answer isn't increasingly and forcibly invading our lives - people avoid ads for a reason. They don't fucking like them. If companies don't get this then they shouldn't be allowed to be more intrusive they should go out of business...

 

[nath]

Well following what you're saying, they can do what they like to try and boost their revenue. It's their network, they can put adverts and shit wherever they want. However, as consumers it's our right to change the channel. If that results in them going out of business - you're absolutely right. Tough shit, can't compete then die.

 

[DaGaffer]

DaGaffer, technology has changed, so has business, we don't need constant ads rammed down our throats but it's needed to fund the 400million crap channels we don't actually watch. Ad space has gone rediculous to the point that people now hate it, sky channels have 5-6mins ad breaks every 3 minutes, the channels are doubled via +1 etc. bottom line is there's fuck all good on tv (yes on all 400 million channels) so people are moving away from tv and downloading specific (albeit rare) programmes they wanna watch. The advertising agency has shot it's self in the foot by flooding the world with crap.

TV companies will make money when they admit they don't need 2,3,4,5 etc versions of the same channel (They've been making money all these years with 1 channel). The problem is they think by having more channels they get more airplay. Wrong, Scrap all the crap, reduce channels back to a sensible level thus reducing costs, job done

Except, that's not the complete story. Declining ad yield (because too many people skip through the channels, affecting response) means TV companies have to make up the shortfall through increased volume, which encourages even more people to skip. The increased channel proliferation is part of the same problem; reduced yield needs to be offset by increased volume, and worse,"cheaper" TV. Its a vicious circle, and the TV people know it (believe it or not, some of them are quite bright), so they're looking for ways to break the cycle. Some of that loss will come from the very programme download option you prefer, but its not enough, and its also only relevant to certain demographics and certain types of content. Its actually why you get a proliferation of crap like the X-Factor; "event" based TV is generally live and appeals to demographics that aren't as interested in time-shifting and download (yet).

I'd add to the above - companies have no right to make sure we see their products. If we don't want to watch adverts then that's the consumer's perogative.

If companies can't compete they should DIE. (Works for everyone unless you're a bank).

The answer isn't increasingly and forcibly invading our lives - people avoid ads for a reason. They don't fucking like them. If companies don't get this then they shouldn't be allowed to be more intrusive they should go out of business...

And many of these companies WILL go out of business; that's inevitable, but as for what the "answer" is, well the answer isn't "free" either. So if you can't fully fund your service by Pay Per view (see earlier posts), too many of your audience skip the ad breaks, and you don't have access to a licence fee, how do you make enough money to keep going? Its all very well saying "they should die", but a business wants to survive like any organism, so they'll find revenue opportunies where they can. Will they make things worse? Possibly, but they're running out of options.

Well following what you're saying, they can do what they like to try and boost their revenue. It's their network, they can put adverts and shit wherever they want. However, as consumers it's our right to change the channel. If that results in them going out of business - you're absolutely right. Tough shit, can't compete then die.

Don't disagree at all. Maybe that's what will happen, or maybe people will treat the ad model they're talking about the way they treat ambient ads on posters or the Tube; background noise that sinks in slowly and doesn't intrude with the flow of their lives. After all, I don't see many people raging about that kind of advertising.

 

[Scouse]

Sounds like TV is not a viable business model in this age of new media. Simple eh?

 

[JingleBells]

The first instinct of most people, when they hear a TV exec (or music publisher etc.) mention creative ways to keep their businesses alive, is to react as everyone here has, with ranting, but ultimately they have to make money or go under.

That's one thing I'd like to happen to ITV (Sorry Fweddy), the only thing I generally watch on ITV is sport and their coverage of that is pretty diabolical at times, I'm not going to forgive them for the ITV digital debacle.

 

[Raven]

You know, they could make the adverts interesting, there have been some good adverts over the years which people have remembered, be them funny, cute, epic etc etc

Most adverts are absolute junk though, advertising execs have the collective imagination of a bowl of cornflakes. Saying that there are still good adverts about, cadburys recent batch, the pot noodle ads, Can't really think of any others tbh. Pretty much everything else lately has been very forgettable, just like the worthless product they are trying to pimp to Johnny Consumer. Adverts should have a bit of comedy in them in my book, Product placement is ok if its not pushed but part of the actual feel of the movie, the phones in the matrix, cars in bond movies etc. If they start being dickheads in TV shows then they will lose even more potential customers as nobody will watch it.

 

[GReaper]

Quality > Quantity. If product/advert placement is just another way to try and bombard us with extra advertisement then they need to rethink their strategy.

ITV needs to become more relevant in changing times. They need quality content along with decent adverts instead of mediocre shows with a load of average adverts which we've seen before. If they just end up in an arms race in trying to force adverts down peoples throats then the public will just end up ignoring them anyway.

 

[Maljonic]

Wont somebody think of the poor advertisers, how else are they supposed to tell us about all their cool stuff?!

 

[DaGaffer]

Wont somebody think of the poor advertisers, how else are they supposed to tell us about all their cool stuff?!

The advertisers don't give a fuck; they'll just switch to other media, as indeed is happening. Which basically means Google gets more money, and I don't think that's a good thing personally.

 

[Bodhi]

I'd welcome more advertising, as long as it was done by Budweiser, Foster's, Tango, Irn Bru, John West and Volkswagen. Nothing to do with the products, they just have ace adverts. Meanwhile the comms networks, DFS, Halifax, Ford and any company that uses fucking global warming to sell you more expensive electricity can fuck off and contract AIDS from administering fellatio to a rusty dildo. If the ad breaks were like mini episodes of Carrott's Commercial Breakdown they'd rock. As it is, they mostly make me want to vomit, then get a job in advertising so I could stab my fellow co workers in the face for producing such unadulterated pish.

 

[xane]

I'd like to make a sandwich between ads but i use too many rounds of bread and ultimately miss the programme when it starts again

That depends how many slices you use.