I thought I heard during the Aereo Supreme Court hearing media updates that the major networks are required to provide over-the-air broadcasts - some FCC rule on the books. I heard CBS threatened to pull their broadcasts if Aereo won the case, and I wondered if they would be allowed to do so.
I think the issue is the original model of how television transmissions would pay for itself is that advertisers bought time to show their ads to those watching, and that would pay for the transmission fees. However, in today's world where people can fast forward through commercials on shows DVR'ed, or find them streaming online - that advertisers are finding their commercials are not being viewed. Cable originally was supposed to have minimal advertising as the paid subscription was to cover those costs - obviously that didn't last long.
My theory of why advertising has much less impact today than when everything was over-the-air is that we are so saturated with advertising - television, radio, bill boards, magazines, smartphones, internet... - that advertising has become white noise in our lives - we just tune it out. I think companies need to find a more effective way to get people's attention than overplaying tired ads.
Last year, when editing shows for a contest, I found several comedies and dramas where there would be 4.5 minutes of ads, followed by a 2.5-3 minute clip of the show, followed by another 4.5 minutes of ads. That's just nuts!
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Topic: What do you think about this? (Read 498 times)