Will increased DVR use cut into TV advertising revenue?

 Ted Harbert, the chairman of NBC, expressed his distaste over using DVRs to skip commercials by stating, "This is an insult to our joint investment in programming, and I'm against it." This seems like a shortsighted view of the changing nature of broadcast media. Instead of railing against the advent and use of new technology broadcasters and advertisers should look at all the new and exciting ways they can use this technology to deliver their sales pitch for products. What gives a business longevity is adaptation to a changing consumer tastes and technological environment. In short adapt and survive.

One major factor that makes DVRs attractive to the viewing public is the ability to individualize the viewing experience. A viewer may not fall into the normal demographics that research has shown would most likely watch a certain show at a certain time. For example, a person who works during the day may be interested in daytime TV shows, but doesn't have the opportunity to watch their favorite show during its normal broadcast.

The point to be stressed is that broadcasters still have viewers for their popular shows through the use of DVRs and other delivery methods such as streamed internet video and smart TVs. The goal is to get the advertising for their clients to the viewing public.

Trends in internet usage and content show that individualized content is what the consumer wants. Google has capitalized on this fact by leveraging technology to customize ads to the users content. The question is: can advertisers get individualized product messages across in a non-interactive media such as broadcast television? I believe that the answer is yes. If one examines other static media such as print media, I believe the attainment of both goals is already available.

We have all flipped through magazines and, although we seldom stop and read each advertisement, we see them and they do send very strong messages. These ads are scattered among the content, and even though they may only be glanced for a second, their visual messages are highly motivating to the consumer. Copies of Vogue or Cosmopolitan are hugely successful at getting advertisers messages to the consuming public. Format and delivery system are where old and new advertising concepts diverge.

Currently, broadcast media uses the commercial break which is the equivalent of the print media’s back-to-back full page ad. This is a very easy format to ignore. With print media, one can simply tear out the page and not lose any of the content the reader purchased. The same practice is happening with broadcast media and DVRs- the viewers are ripping out whole blocks of advertisements by skipping past them.

A more difficult task involves skipping the quarter page ad or the endorsement that is nested in the content. Product placement within programming would have the same effect and could be used to replace the use of commercial breaks. This is already used in some motion pictures and programs. For instance, Tony Soprano in the “Sopranos” drove a Chevy Suburban, and Dana Scully in the “X-Files” drove an Avalon. One of the great trivia questions of all times is, what car did James Bond drive? The answer depends on which Bond or which movie. The point is these products associations are forever in the minds and culture of the consuming public.

A draw back involves contriving the storyline of programs to place adds. It would be hard for the viewer to believe that John Munch from “Law and Order; SVU” would consume a product from a big corporate brand like Starbucks, but might be seen making coffee with a lesser known free trade brand. However, Olivia from the same show may be a very believable consumer of Starbucks coffee. Any product placement has to be believable to the program and character shown using the product or viewers will lose interest in the program. The goal wouldn't be to have a few big name products but to incorporate a multitude of everyday products into hundreds of programs.

It is true that not all programming lends it's content and format to product placement. That is where the “Oprah Effect” could be used. On air endorsements by celebrities such as Dr. Oz or someone in a reality show saying, “I love Pepsi!”- this all works in the favor of advertisers. Followers of NASCAR don't stop shopping at Home Depot just because they don't like the driver of the Home Depot's car. They see both the Home Depot's and Lowe's logo on competing cars for hours on end. The reason for liking one driver over another is deeply personal to the viewer. Each offer of a product or service is of equal value to the broadcaster concerning revenue with exclusivity being the dinosaur in the marketers strategy. The goal should not be to have five sponsors to a program by 25 strategically placed within the program. Major sponsors could purchase a floating logo in the title bar at the bottom of the screen.

The possibilities for placing advertisements within programming content are endless, and make obsolete the idea that commercial breaks are the only effective way of reaching the consumer. In the process the broadcaster and advertiser render the DVR's abilities to skip advertising a mute point.

Clearing the Smoke

Recently I have quit smoking after 18 years. Coming to the realization that the reason for my addiction aside from the physical properties of nicotine. That I was in fact self-medicating for emotional issues that I have never really dealt with.

I look back to the times when I started smoking or the dozen of times over the years that I tried to quit and didn't succeed. The one thing all those times had in common was periods of high stress. Not only was I sucking down my emotional pain with the act of smoking I was also using it as a keep people away that made me feel threatened and vulnerable.

Smoking was my escape, from any uncomfortable situation. When I felt like I was being put on the spot and asked to answer questions I didn't want to answer or touched on feelings I didn't want to have. I would walk away and light up. The two people in my life that this strategy was most effective with was my ex-husband when we were still married and my mother. Both hated the smell of cigarette smoke.

I at least respected my mother's feelings enough to not smoke in my house when she visited. When she would start asking about things that didn't jive in my marriage that I didn't want to examine too closely, I would step outside and light up. What I knew and when I knew it concerning the failure of my 25 year marriage is hard to say.

I do know now that the ex didn't get the same respect as my mother concerning the lighting up. I was always a little afraid of him. I always felt as if couldn't totally trust him with my feelings or fears. So with him it was entirely a way to keep him from getting too close to me physically and allowing me to keep my distance from him emotionally.

So how does a person convince themselves that they love someone else completely and in the same breath know they don't trust that person. The ex was a real charmer and handsome devil but didn't know what the truth was. There was the truth according to him, then the truth according to everyone else and he couldn't see the difference between them.

I have paid dearly for the consumption of my feelings and fears through both smoking and eating. My physical health is not the greatest, but far worse than being overweight and out of breath is the emotional health scars. Including the ones I have left on my children.

Over the twenty-five years that I was married to the ex, I suffered from three bouts of major depression, two of which I was suicidal for more than six months. That I never gave in to those thoughts contest to my dedication to my kids. I simply refused to leave them alone in this world. Something inside me gave me the feeling that my kids where better off with a damaged mom than with no mom.

How did the ex react to my depressions over the years? First tried to fix me, by telling me what I was doing wrong and or how I was in error in my thinking. Didn't once try to get me the help I needed in the form of a mental healthcare professional. But he did get himself a counselor when "I was too much to deal with."

The last time around was right before the divorce and the reaction was all about how his needs weren't being met and how I made him feel like a stranger in his own home. At the time I felt like a stranger in my own head.

All those time of great emotional pain were from not expressing my feelings when I had them. Instead of lighting up a cigarette and sucking in the hurting feelings, I should have expressed them to the person that was hurting or pressuring me.

After nearly a half a century of life and learning bad habits I have to teach myself new good habits. New ways of dealing with emotional stress and difficult personal relationships. New ways of confronting the world honestly and immediately. Along with purging all the toxic feelings that I still have inside me.

Then next few months should be really interesting. I am looking forward to seeing my world with out a cloud of smoke distorting everything.