Why Television Advertisement Is Going Downhill

When it comes to communication, there is nothing stronger, more important and more powerful than television advertisement.
At least, that’s the traditional thinking.
When one starts looking at numbers, one can notice that the queen of marketing has been deposed… However, some businesses still spend over 80 percent of their advertising budget in television advertisement.
Dear reader, did you watch live television in the last 24 hours? Most of you will answer no, unless there was a sports event with your favorite team or player.

Skip the advertisement

When you watch a pre-recorded television program, it is easy to skip the advertisement. The rare studies on this topic show that 95 percent of people that own a DVR box skip the commercials. More surprisingly, sales reps who sell DVR boxes seldom mention that they enable skipping the commercials.
Analog television has already disappeared in Switzerland. Since 21 April 2015, Switzerland is 100 percent numeric, which means that anybody can skip the advertisement. Nevertheless, media planning has not seen any dramatic change.

Youtube & Co

Among people aged 34 and under, classic television consumption dropped at least by 23 percent in 2015. Today, video as a media is consumed on the Internet, via Youtube, Netflix and the replay platform.

Format

Advertisement is felt more and more like a nuisance. You know, these videos that you are forced to watch before you can read an article or watch something online… It’s annoying. The same goes with television advertisement. It interrupts and what you’re watching and is disrupting. Whether it lasts 15, 20, or 30 seconds doesn’t change anything. In fact, the most successful advertisement videos on Youtube are often longer and include some added value for the audience: humor, or some intelligent content.

Is television in danger?
Yes it is, because its business model is challenged, even if its basic concept is still appreciated. Television viewers do not want advertisement, but they like video content. Video is in fact the most successful media online. And no can produce video content better than television.
However, television must find new ways to finance its content. Even the most old-school marketing directors will be unable to justify huge advertising investments in a media that reaches fewer people and whose advertisement is less watched…