Posted by chicagomedia.org on May 20, 2009 at 13:30:16:
Why we need a pop-up blocker for television
Phil Rosenthal | Media
May 20, 2009
So, this friend of New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd called me and said: "I have this idea, and I'm totally not reading from someone else's blog. You're going to want to get this completely original idea down verbatim so you can just drop it into your col -- "
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And so I joked, "With friends like these, who needs editors?"
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Conan O'Brien is doing ads to promote his June 1 debut as host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" in which he touts television as a great new device with which you can watch the same great video that's on your computer or mobile phone but on a bigger screen and in a more comfortable chair.
One thing TV lacks that a computer has, however, is software to block pop-up ads. Who wouldn't want to stop those on-screen promos from invading the screen?
If we wanted to watch more than one show at a time, we would be channel surfing. And we probably would be doing it during actual ads and promos, which, it should be noted, are never interrupted by other ads screaming: HEY! FORGET WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT NOW! HERE'S SOMETHING BETTER TO THINK ABOUT!
These "pop-ins" are product placement on steroids, except product placement usually has something at least tangentially connected to the story in which it is incorporated. These are the video equivalent of a guy chatting on his phone in the row behind you at the movies, yapping about another movie.
It's not a new nuisance -- heck, it was parodied in the middle of 2007's "The Simpsons Movie" -- but it has been amped up lately to the point that "Saturday Night Live" and "Family Guy" satirized it on successive nights over the weekend.
NBC's "SNL" had sitcom promos all but taking over a TNT basketball studio show. A promo for "24" popped into Fox's "Family Guy," irking malevolent young Stewie.
"We're right in the middle of our show. OK? Right now. You've got a time slot. Go there," he said.
When the Fox "24" promo with Kiefer Sutherland as agent Jack Bauer went away, he added: "Well, at least it wasn't one of those promos where they've got the whole cast shoving each other playfully like they're all good pals."
Which led to a fake Fox promo for a fake comedy, "Shovin' Buddies."
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It has always seemed as though these intrusions are a stalking horse of sorts. Promos for other programs will give way to actual ads if and when viewers start to take them for granted and the annoyance factor dwindles.
Coca-Cola pays for the soda-cup concession among the judges on "American Idol" because not much, if any, negativity is attached to it. A Chevy Camaro skidding across the bottom of the screen might not be so accepted -- yet.
There's incentive for all media to be as open-minded as possible when it comes to bringing in ad revenue, given how tight the market has been. Emmis Communications' WKQX-FM 101.1 recently began accepting ads -- after some revisions -- for the Ashley Madison Web site, a social networking site for married people looking for relationships apart from their spouses that might not have been able to buy afternoon exposure in Chicago radio in better days.
TV's broadcast networks are presenting their plans for the 2009-10 season to advertisers this week in advance of what's known as upfront ad sales. Broadcasters have managed to get about $9 billion in advance advertising commitments in recent years, but various estimates suggest that figure will be down from 5 percent to 25 percent -- at least partly because networks will hold back inventory hoping an uptick will boost prices later.
If that doesn't work, look out.
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"Shovin' Buddies" may wind up seeming subtle.