Ratings company Nielsen says they are about ready to provide ratings specifically for commercial breaks (previously Nielsen rated a television show in it's entirety) http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/2892. This move has some television executives pig-biting mad, as they are afraid that when the research confirns that television viewing drops as the commercials come on, advertising rates will have to come down.
Television stations and networks will simply have to come up with innovative ways to keep their audiences watching and not flushing during commercial breaks. But how? Here are some examples.
- On-Air Contests-Stations could air a promotion that would involve a chance to win cash or prizes. Clues to win could run for split seconds between spots. Or, advertisers might agree to drop clues inside the commercials themselves. The station would heavily promote these contests. Viewers would have to sit through commercials and in fact watch them very carefully, to become eligible to win the prize. You kill two birds with one stone. Your ratings stay higher during commercial breaks and you solve your DVR zapping issues.
Screen or censor Commerical Content- Stations and networks may have to learn to say NO to obnoxious commercials. What? Saying no to a car dealer? But that would be tantamount to apostasy. Television stations and networks obviously have many creative resources. They should start using them to teach clients how to do make better, more effective commercials. Click here for more information on how to write better scripts. http://www.paulweyland.com/language.html. They should explain to clients that their commercial is like their front door. It should be clean and inviting and make people feel good about buying from you, instead of making the advertiser look like an ass. Some television commercials are so bad that they actually drive people away. Enough of these bad commercials back to back and you will definitely lose viewers during commercial breaks. Television account executives should focus on getting the cliches out of commericals by using the "best friend test." Read the script aloud. If you wouldn't say those very same words to your best friend then the copy is cliche. Help clients learn to identify and solve viewer problems in commerical scripts, in language the viewer would absolutely understand. Combine that with non-cornball entertainment and you might have commercials that people actually enjoy watching.
Savvy television executives could actually turn this Nielsen situation from a sow's ear into a silk purse by explaining to advertisers that the difference between our station or network and our competition is easy. We do everything we can to keep audiences glued to their sets during our commercial breaks. Could you say that at your station? You sure could if you were airing the Super Bowl. During that single program more people care about the commercials than they do the game itself. So let's use Super Bowl super logic for all commercial breaks and keep our viewers where they belong. Glued to their sets.
What do you think? Do you have ideas to boost viewership during commercials? We'd like to hear from you.
