So the latest invention in the quest by people to skip the very thing that keeps their TV programs on the air is an ad eraser embedded in new digital video recorders sold by Dish Network. Just turn on Auto Hop and ads automatically vanish. TiVo on steroids.
Here’s an article in the New York Times that goes into more detail.
So, how do I feel about that – as a voice talent whose income includes payment for doing announcing for TV Commercials? In some ways, a lot like the chief executive of CBS who wonders how he will produce shows like “CSI” without the support of the advertisers running the commercials. Or maybe a bit like News Corporation who has decided not to run Dish’s DVR ads.
Everyone in the chain is trying to figure out how to snag the eyeballs (and dollars) of the consumers. Consumers who seem to be starting to turn away from paying for cable or satellite and are looking to the Internet. My niece watches TV shows on her laptop whenever and wherever she feels like it. When I do watch TV, it is still from my easy chair in the living room without a DVR, so I tend to see mostly reruns of Bones, Law & Order and NCIS.
I would miss commercials, not only because I get paid to record them, but also because for me they are a source of education and sometimes inspiration. Not that I am a TV junkie, but part of the whole TV watching experience is studying the spots. I realize that the vast majority of the TV watching public probably doesn’t really care for commercials (except during the Super Bowl), but maybe they haven’t really thought about how their TV shows are currently being funded.
The operative word in that last sentence? “Currently.” Everything changes. Eventually.
I wish I had a crystal ball. It would be nice to see what the new business model(s) might be. I’d like to be prepared for when the current one goes away, and with it part of my income.
It seems to be this lack of respect thing. Not that people are disrespectful, but tend more to be in a mode that doesn’t extend itself towards respect; respect for what others do; respect for professionalism; respect for laws and systems. For many it’s simply a case of free not being free enough. Somebody is going to pay for it folks, so if it isn’t the advertiser subsidizing the show with million dollar media buys, eventually all we’ll be watching are $4.95 per view episodes of Pawn Stars and Ice Road Truckers.
Yep, endless reality shows…shot on cell phones. Or LOTS of product placement.
This evolution in advertising and TV viewership concerns me as well. Like you, Connie, I watch commercials to learn from them. I’m also more likely to watch TV from an easy chair during a shows actual airtime. And the shows I like to watch are slim pickins these days. The drop in ad revenue is and will continue to affect us professionally. I just wonder where we will all end up when the evolution has peaked.
Perhaps we should just be happy that we have been around for a while and have carved out decent reputations in the business. That may help us get through to “retirement.”
Dish pays these networks retransmission fees for their channels.
I figured they paid something.