STARGATE UNIVERSE # 15:Lost/Season 1/2010

[BrooklynKnight]

They only care about ad dollars generated from commercial advertising. The advertising they sell on the net just doesn't compare. So they want to force as many people to watch live as possible. The morons still haven't caught on that if we really enjoy a show that we'll go out of our way to support the shows sponsors (example Chuck and The Subway Sandwich).

 

[Fast Learner]

The deal is, though, that they don't actually know whether or not the advertising they sell on the net compares or not; they're simply afraid that it doesn't compare.

They currently have no reliable data on things like:

• How many users who watch it online would have watched it at all via broadcast instead (aka does online viewing actually cannibalize other viewership)?
• Related to that, how many users who can't watch it legitimately online instead download it illegitimately?
• How much do users pay attention to online ads vs. broadcast ads?
• Are interactive ads more likely to make a positive impression on users?
• How much more valuable are user-interest and demographically-targeted ads worth than the loose demographic ads presented via broadcast?

The first two relate to how online viewers differ from broadcast/cable viewsers, which is almost entirely unknown. The last three relate the difference between the online and broadcast ad experience, which is also almost entirely unknown right now.

It's about fear of being wrong, and it's about trying to help convince the current big money, broadcast advertisers, that their ads aren't being cannibalized. It's not about online ads actually being less effective, or even actually less valuable.

 

[Orius]

Yeah, advertising's probably just as important if not more so. Though my point remains: they're trying to do business in a way that's been rendered obsolete by the internet.

 

[Fast Learner]

Agreed.

 

[Merkuri]

You know, Thursday when I watched Supernatural was the first time in a long time that I actually watched real commercials on TV. Nowadays I either watch Hulu (which has much fewer commercials) or I watch shows taped on my DVR where I fast-forward through all the commercials.

That means that nowadays I see almost all of my TV-related advertising through Hulu.