Big surprise: People don't watch commercials
The availability of instant digital downloads from services like iTunes, Amazon, or Netflix has made it convenient for me watch TV shows on my time, without the commercials. Isn't it obvious? I choose when to watch a show and I save about 15 minutes worth of useless advertising.
(Credit:
TV.com)
Similarly, one might use a DVR to record shows and watch them at a later time, with the liberty of fast-forwarding through ads. Although there are those who don't mind commercials, most would probably skip them. So it's not surprising that TiVo reported "nearly all of the television shows that won 2009 Emmys showed higher levels of ad-skipping than the averages for their respective genres." The one exception: "30 Rock."
NBC broadcasts commercials during "30 Rock" that have tactfully cast its very own Tina Fey, resulting in a fluid show-to-commercial transition. I've seen Bravo use a similar strategy, placing a micro clip of the show in between commercials, forcing me to sit through ads while I wait to see NeNe and Kim in another wig-pulling, stiletto chucking cat fight ("The Real Housewives" is my guilty pleasure).
This report seems silly--would anyone sit through commercials if they didn't have to? Some ads are just nonsense (one more Ped-Egg commercial and I might throw up). Even when I watch live TV, I switch to mute, or load Facebook and Twitter to kill time. Nielsen has confirmed that others share my habit, as it found that a fair amount of people are watching TV and surfing the Net simultaneously.
TiVo's report isn't a shock to me, and perhaps networks and advertisers will take it as a hint: it's time to consider new marketing techniques. Better yet, get rid of commercials altogether!
Until then, those of you who watch live television and would like to skip through commercials might want to check out GeekSugar's "How to: Skip ads with a standard remote control."
Sharon Vaknin is the CNET Labs' go-to intern. When she's not testing MP3 players, blogging, or making the lab look presentable, she can be found playing computer games. Sharon formerly worked for Best Buy and is currently studying journalism at San Francisco State University. E-mail Sharon. 
Whenever I fast forward through commercials, I do still see them. If something interests me, I'll actually rewind and watch it. One way we'll watch more commercials is when the commercials are made better or when they incorporate computers to show ads that interest the viewer, like they do with the internet and those blasted 3rd party cookies.
When I see commercials that have that annoying "A Scanner Darkly" animated look, that's when I fast forward. I've seen so many of them and I still don't remember what it's for. A bank or something? It doesn't work, get rid of them.
Isn't it true anyway that people with DVRs watch stuff live about 90% of the time. I don't see why people do that, but whatever. And instant downloads are (usually) a paid service, so why the need for commercials?
I admit I'm one of the TV multitaskers who's on the web at the same time.
Back in the eighties or nineties, there was a series of radio commercials for some beer, featuring some couple. They often didn't mention the product. Many times, they were just talking about -- stuff. But, audiences soon associated that couple with the product. I presume that was the intent. I grew to despise them! They were absolutely, nails-across-the-blackboard irritating. I especially hated her smug laugh. I would be reminded of her smugness whenever I saw the product on the store shelf. The concept was a good idea. It's just they chose two of the most annoying people on the planet to play the parts.
So, be careful what we wish for. Otherwise, we may have to endure the Ped-Egg couple.
People like that want to have their cake and eat it too. You don't want to pay to download shows, you don't want to watch commercials, how do you expect anybody to make money? Unfortunately it's these people who are forcing networks to get more and more annoying with their ads.
Basically, advertisements need to become content and people need to WANT to watch them or else we as viewers will be subjected to more and more annoyances designed to make it more difficult to avoid advertisements.
Stopped watching live TV years ago, tired of the ads for items I already use or never will. I have never bought an item because I seen it on TV. Got tired of the the volume on commercials going louder then the show so I can hear it in the next room, which are paid by the advertisers. Then having a 100-130 a month bill so I had the privilege of watching these. Cable companies continue to raise the prices, encrypt channels so my LCD TV with digital tuner built in is useless unless I pay for a cable box by each TV. Now days is computer connected so can watch DVD's and Netflix instant if I am in a hurry for a show / movie, PS3 for Blu-ray days.
:-)
- by Bytrat October 26, 2009 5:07 AM PDT
- No wonder shows are getting nuttier - they spend more time showing the commercials than they do showing the show. More commercial time whithin the timeslot doesn't mean the show is better. I remember when a half hour show was mostly show and maybe 6 minutes of commercials - 1 break at the begining, 1 in the middle and one at the end. Now there is 4 breaks and quite a few times there is a duplication of one of the commercials in the same break. How many times do we need to see the same Colgate/Swiffer/Auto ad in the same break before you decide that it's just better to record the show and fast forward through the commercials.
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