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Why TV Networks Are Cutting Back on Commercials

posted by martyb on Thursday November 12 2015, @04:24PM   Printer-friendly
from the adverts-averse? dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

This puts an actual smile on my face:

Media companies, including Time Warner Inc., 21st Century Fox Inc. and Viacom Inc., have started cutting back on commercials after years of squeezing in as many ads as possible.

The new strategy is an attempt to appeal to younger viewers, who are more accustomed to watching shows ad-free on online streaming services like Netflix Inc., and to advertisers concerned their messages are being ignored amid all the commercial clutter.

Time Warner's truTV will cut its ad load in half for prime-time original shows starting late next year, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bewkes said last week on an earnings call. Viacom has recently slashed commercial minutes at its networks, which include Comedy Central and MTV. Earlier this month, Fox said it will offer viewers of its shows on Hulu the option to watch a 30-second interactive ad instead of a typical 2 1/2-minute commercial break. Fox says the shorter ads, which require viewers to engage with them online, are more effective because they guarantee the audience's full attention.

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  • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Thursday November 12 2015, @06:11PM

    by TheRaven (270) on Thursday November 12 2015, @06:11PM (#262268) Journal
    I'm amazed that it took so long in the USA. You get vastly more ads than we do in the UK (even ignoring the BBC channels, which are ad-free), and a lot of people my age and younger gave up on UK TV because of the amount of time wasted on ads, in favour of DVD rental subscriptions, streaming, or just plain piracy. Given the success of services to rent DVDs, there's obviously a market of people willing to pay money in exchange for entertainment, yet the TV industry is fixated on the model where they make the shows for free and then try to persuade people that they want to buy the opportunity to interrupt and annoy people who were enjoying the show.
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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by jimtheowl on Thursday November 12 2015, @06:49PM

    by jimtheowl (5929) on Thursday November 12 2015, @06:49PM (#262287)

    The sad part is the show is not free as the cable subscription costs plenty. It used to be that one of the incentives to get cable over TV on the air was the reduced number of commercials, but that is what seems a lifetime ago.

    That said, I'm not even in the USA.