Death Of 30-Second Spot Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

MediaDailyNews
by David Kline, Yesterday, 1:58 PM

In the late 1990s, with the advent of the DVR and the emergence of the Internet as an advertising vehicle, media industry pundits clamored to be the first to say the traditional :30 TV commercial, the staple of TV advertising for 50 years, would soon be a thing of the past.

After all, why would anyone with a DVR watch commercials? Then add Internet advertising into the equation, offering rich census data based on who clicked on the ad, how long they visited the Web site, new customer leads, etc. Why would advertisers continue to buy TV? "The :30 commercial is dead" they all cried.

Well, here we are in 2011, almost 15 years into the DVR era. More than half of U.S. homes have broadband, and broadband adoption continues to climb rapidly. Google and others are bringing customers to advertisers through search on a very efficient basis. Even so, guess what is still the dominant platform for advertisers? You guessed it: traditional 30-second commercials.

Believe me, I am not naïve. I know that DVRs can compromise the value of traditional 30-second spots, and that Internet-delivered targeting and metrics will shift more media dollars to that platform.

Yet there are several real reasons why such spots have not only survived, but have actually flourished, including the fact that program producers know the best way to monetize content is to get in front of the largest audiences possible.

If high-quality content like "Grey's Anatomy" was only offered on Hulu type services and/or iTunes at $.99, they would never come close to generating the same type of revenues as they do today with traditional 30-second commercials. Do the media math: The vast majority of high-quality content could not afford to be produced without the inherent supporting benefits of 30-second TV commercials -- a large audience and a CPM model.

In addition, measurement across all platforms will continue to improve. Over time, the Hulu and iTunes models will most likely evolve to become complementary to the traditional 30-second commercial revenue. However, they will not become a substitute for these spots. When measurement improves, and it will, so will ad revenue from 30-second spots. These spots offer advantages similar to those of direct mail -- utilizing widely available general demographic data, implemented on an anonymous basis -- and the rich metrics of the Internet.

Advertisers love targeting, proven engagement and better accountability. Plus, this is not a pipe dream! It has and continues to take place daily, and the cutting-edge of advanced advertising that cable operators provide makes 30-second commercials even more powerful for advertisers. For the foreseeable future, they will continue to be the best vehicle for marketers to brand and sell their products and services.

While some in the industry consider how to jump on this fast-moving train, we at Cablevision already empower 30-second commercials to do more. Across our full footprint of nearly 3 million digital subscribers, marketers are utilizing household addressable ads, RFIs and dedicated advertiser channels with telescoping. So how do we know Madison Avenue is aboard for this ride? They vote with their budgets, and we are seeing unprecedented growth, a meaningful part of which is due to our advanced ads.

As Mark Twain said about himself, "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." The same can also be said for the media mainstay: the 30-second commercial.