Television

Prepared By
Dikshananda Bora (Roll No.- 441/15)
Waseem Akhter Ahmed (Roll No.Kuldeep Sharma (Roll No.-438/15)
Abhijit Pegu (R

Brief Introduction
Television has been the dominant form of entertainment in most
households for more than half a century and advertising has been the
lifeblood of the industry for nearly as long. Ever since Bulova ran the
first T.V. ad in 1941 at a cost of ten dollars, the commercial has been
considered the quintessential form of advertising for many marketers.
Television advertising has gone through many changes over past 60
years. For decades it was dominated by three major broadcast
networks (ABC, CBS and NBC), which could deliver more than 90%
of the prime time viewing audience on any given evening. However
with the growth of cable and direct broadcast satellite services, most
television households can now receive more than 100 channels that
offer various types of shows, news, sports, music, information and
other entertainment genres.

Changes in television industry challenging

its role as an advertising medium

TiVo Inc.s introduction of the first DVR at the beginning of the new
millennium as these devices allow users to record many hours of
programming and easily fast forward through content when playing
back a recorded show. Though penetration of DVRs has been much
slower than expected, as the penetration of these devices increases,
additional changes maybe needed for measuring viewing audiences
and to stop customers from fast forwarding through commercial.
Other factors impacting televisions role as a king of advertising media
are continued fragmentation of viewing audience that is occurring
with the increase in number of channels available through digital
cable and satellite systems.
Television viewing patterns have also been impacted by technologies
that provide access to other forms of entertainment delivered on our
T.V. screens like video on demand.

Advantages of television over other media

Creativity and Impact: T.V. provides opportunity for presenting the

advertising message. The interaction of sound and sight offers
tremendous creative flexibility and makes possible dramatic lifelike
representations of products and services.
Coverage and cost effectiveness: T.V. Advertisements makes it possible
to reach large audience. Nearly everyone, regardless of age, sex,
income or educational level, watches at least some T.V. Most people do
so on a regular basis. According to Neilsen Media Research estimates,
nearly 280 million people age 2 or older live in the nations 114.9
million T.V. households, nearly 77 percent of whom are 18 or older.
Captivity and Attention: Television is basically intrusive in that
commercially impose themselves on viewers as they watch their
favourite programs. Unless we make a special effort to avoid
commercials, most of us are exposed to thousands of them each year.

Selectivity and Flexibility: Television has often been criticized for

being a non selective medium, since it is difficult to reach a precisely
defined market segment through the use of T.V. advertising. But
some selectivity is possible due to variation in the composition of
audiences as a result of programme content, broadcast time and
geographic coverage. For example, Saturday morning TV carters to
children; weekday daytime shows appeal heavily to homemakers.
Advertisers can also adjust their media strategies to take advantage
of different geographic markets through local or spot ads in specific
market areas. Ads can be scheduled to run repeatedly to take
advantage of special occasions.

Limitations of T.V. over other media

Costs: Despite the efficiency of T.V. in reaching large audiences, it is an expensive medium in
which to advertise. The high cost of T.V. stems not only from the expense of buying airtime but
also from the costs of producing a quality commercial. Production costs for a national brand 30
second spot average nearly $4,00,000 and can reach over a million for more elaborate
commercials.
Lack of Selectivity: Some selectivity is available in television through variation in programs and
cable T.V. But advertisers who are seeking a very specific, often small, target audience find the
coverage of T.V. often extends beyond their market, reducing cost effectiveness. Geographic
selectivity can be a problem for local advertisers such as retailers, since a station bases its rates
on the total market area it reaches.
Fleeting Message: T.V. commercials usually last only 30 seconds or less and leave nothing
tangible for the viewer to examine or consider. Commercials have become shorter and shorter as
the demand for a limited amount of broadcast time has intensified and advertisers try to get
more impressions from their media budgets.
Clutter: The problems of fleeting messages and shorter commercials are compounded by the fact
that the advertisers message is only one of the many spots and other non programming material
seen during a commercial break so it may have trouble being noticed. One of advertisers major
concern with T.V. advertisement is potential decline in effectiveness because of such clutter.

Limited Viewer Attention: Getting customers to pay attention to

commercials has become an even greater challenge in recent years as
most homes have the ability to record programs with a VCR or DVR.
Moreover, most households have either cable or satellite service and
receive an average of more than 100 channels. These factors have
contributed to the problems of zipping and zapping.
Zipping occurs when viewer fast forward through commercials of
previously recorded program.
Zapping refers changing channels to avoid commercials.
Distrust and negative evaluation: To many critics of advertising, T.V.
commercials personify everything that is wrong with the industry. T.V.
commercials are singled out because of the pervasiveness and intrusive
nature of the medium. Consumers are seen defenceless against a
barrage of T.V. ads, since they cannot control the transmission of the
message and what appears on their screen.

Measuring T.V. audiences

One of the most important considerations in T.V. Advertising is the

size and composition of the viewing audience. Audience measurement
is critical to advertisers as well as to networks and stations.
Advertisers want to know the size and characteristics of the audience
they are reaching when they purchase time on a particular program
and make sure that the rates they pay are a function of audience size.
Some of the measures of measuring audience size are as follows:
(a) Television Households
(b) Program Ratings (HH tuned to show/Total U.S. HH)
(c) Households Using Television
(d) Share of Audience (HH tuned to show/U.S. HH using TV)
(e) National Audience Information (Neilsen Television Index)
(f) Local Audience Information (Neilsen Station Index)