|
|
|
and buyers grouse
'It’s diminishing the value of television advertising'
By Kevin Downey
If there isn’t an old expression that goes something like, "Advertisers need television as much as television needs advertisers," there should be.
Even with a growing number of media outlets emerging every day, nearly one out of every three ad dollars is placed in some form of television.
But that might be about to change, and the driving force will be the growing frustration among media buyers over TV's every-worsening ad clutter.
The American Association of Advertising Agencies reported yesterday that ad clutter is still on the rise, despite the weak ad economy.
The amount of non-program time now ranges from just over 16 minutes per hour to nearly 21 minutes per hour for the television dayparts most important to advertisers.
Ad clutter is up to over 18 minutes an hour in the early morning daypart, to just about 21 minutes in daytime, and up by five seconds in local news, to 17 minutes and 10 seconds.
Among others, media consultant Erwin Ephron says that growing ad clutter is among the biggest issues facing advertisers right now. He says the problem has gotten so bad that it’s forcing media buyers to consider alternatives to television.
Kathy Crawford, executive vice president and director of local broadcast at Initiative Media North America, is equally concerned.
"It’s diminishing the value of television advertising," she says.
Primetime is the only daypart that has less ad clutter compared to last year--about nine seconds less--at 16 minutes and eight seconds per hour.
Moreover, ad clutter is impacting all forms of television.
The AAAA reports that it has gone up to over 14 minutes in syndication and as high as 17 minutes and 54 seconds on some cable networks, like Fox Family, which recently became ABC Family Channel.
The AAAA issues its ad clutter report each year to a predictable outcry from media people, which dies down until the next report comes out.
It’s a pattern that has a lot to do with media people having little power to force TV networks and stations to limit the amount of non-programming time that hits the airwaves.
Each year, however, the outcry seems to get louder. And now media people have new reason for concern: the Time Machine, which compresses the length of TV shows and potentially commercials themselves, by deleting frames of film that are repeated.
Use of the machine allows stations to squeeze more commercials into every hour of programming, a particularly attractive way to generate revenue in a rough ad economy.
The Time Machine is reportedly being used by at least 100 television stations, despite reported efforts by the networks to discourage its use.
"In the scheme of things, we could ask stations to prove to us that they are living up to the standards that we all agree to," says Crawford.
"And if they’re not we either lower the ratings as a form of protection to our clients, or in an extreme measure and with a client’s approval, decide that the station can’t be on a media buy."
The concern among media people, of course, is that an increased number of ads vying for a viewer’s attention means that each advertisement becomes less effective in getting its message across.
Several research studies have supported this idea over the years.
A viewer’s ability to recall an advertisement goes down by about 45 percent, for example, in commercial breaks with seven or more spots compared to breaks with three or fewer.
That’s according to a report from Nielsen Media Research and the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau.
"I believe it’s going to have a long-term effect, the degree of which needs to be determined by a number of factors," says Crawford.
"It’s about advertising clutter, it’s about non-program clutter, and then it’s about how the viewer perceives all of this."
February 15, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.
Printer-Friendly
Version | Send
to a Friend
Cover Page | Contact
Us
