thinkbox, the body responsible for marketing that unfashionable medium, has published a powerpoint deck summarising the case for its enduring commercial viability (download here)
john lowery, of Grey Advertising, has posted some questions about thinkbox's more surprising findings, like the data showing that tv's commercial impacts are growing, prompting a reply from tess alps, thinkbox chairman. Tess explains the growth in impacts as a function of multi-channel growth:
the biggest driver of the continuing growth in commercial impacts is the growth of commercial TV's share of broadcast telly at the expense of the BBC. This is in no way to criticise the BBC; it's just the inevitable consequence of homes getting one of the three main forms of multi-channel TV: digital terrestrial, cable or satellite.
(worth noting that multi-channel broadcasters are allowed greater commercial minutage than the commercial terrestrials, so as multi-channel share of viewing increases there is a compound effect in terms of increased commercial impacts).
tess remarks on the evidence that PVR ownership increases tv viewing and thus total ad consumption - and reminds us that people now have more ways than ever to seek out ads they like:
people do like good TV ads, are happy to watch them, stop and rewind them to watch again on their PVR and search for them on Youtube. We just have to make all our TV ads brilliant which of course is a doddle!
she also makes the following point:
TV is also growing via new technologies like mobile, internet and IPTV,
none of which are measured by BARB yet. TV content is in massive demand
and the internet is facilitating this.
i agree. The simple fact is that, from a consumer perspective, TV is getting better. PVRs are brilliant. Increasingly we can all watch the stuff we really like, when and where we want to watch it. However much we like interacting, there will always be a massive role for great entertainment that we just sit back and enjoy. Indeed, you might say that TV is colonising other devices - in a couple of years the main way in which I use my PC and broadband connection might be to download TV content, ditto my games consul.
so anybody predicting doom for the medium as a whole has got it wrong. But the last sentence quoted from Tess above reminds me how people are accessing TV content these days - ie, not necessarily via broadcast brands. Yes, people still love TV - but do they love TV channels? The answer, by and large, is no, with a few exceptions, like Channel 4, who have managed to build brands with a strong sense of values.
TV is going to be fine. Brilliant advertisers are going to be fine. Strong channel brands are going to be fine. It's everyone else that should be worrying...
