#8 TVs Future

The way television attracts consumers is changing. It has to if it wants to keep its viewers, especially since youtube and the ability to watch shows online came out . Keeping consumers tuned into programs, especially during commercial breaks is becoming more and more difficult. I know that I, personnally, surf the channels during commercial breaks, or I will watch two different shows. One during the others commercial break. Many people are starting to record their favorite shows which allows them to fast forward through commercials they are meant to see by advertisers. To solve this issue, advertisers are going to have to come up with more creative and engaging ways of attracting their markets.

The idea which FOX is pursueing seems like it could be effective. Telling a consumer how long the commercials will be will allow the consumer to decide if that amount of time is short enough where they will stay or too long. It gives the consumers the choice to watch the commercials, which has never been done before now. I think this method will attract more consumers because the commercials aren't taking them by surprise, and because the commercial block will be shorter. The shorter the break the more likely people will choose to stay because they will have less time to do something, then come back and watch without missing parts of the show.

Another method for commercials would be to copy how Europe does them. Europes commercials come at the end of the program, so there are no breaks from the show being viewed. Although I'm not sure how effective this is, I would much rather have that, then be interrupted every ten or so minutes with commercials. I actually think this is a terrible method for advertisers because no consumer will want to sit and watch five to ten minutes of straight commercials. How this works in Europe I have no idea.

I think there are two likely methods advertisers will use for getting consumers to watch their commercials, and networks to keep their consumers. One of which is more product placement within shows. Although this method isn't always the greatest, it can be extremely effective, especially if it is done well. Another method is that networks will start having shorter commercial breaks, but the breaks themselves will be more frequent. This would be like having one commercial per break. Its not long enough to drive the person away, but it's long enough to attract thier attention. Otherwise I'm honestly not sure where advertising will go in the near future. Maybe I'll tune into the TV more often to find out how it changes.

Blog #7 Open

So far in Media Lit a few of the topics we've discussed include what the media is, how it is used, how it is consumed, and how it should be consumed. We've analyzed concepts of the media, and we've examined the messages it sends us. Overall, I feel as though I've become a slightly better media consumer. Being informed and media literate is extremely important when it comes to making social decisions, political decisions, etc. The media can be extremely influential on society, thus, we must make sure our society is educated. The media advertises to certain markets. Magazines, product advertisements, shows, and stations are all meant for certain demographics, certain peoples in society. From what I've learned, especially after the advertising unit, is that one of the main goals of the media is to make money. The more viewers you attract, the more advertisers will pay you to use your medium, which will bring about more purchasing of advertised products by the viewers. If your medium isn't entertaining enough, money goes down the tubes. Many aspects of media, including the news, are more like forms of entertainment. This isn't necessarily good, especially when it comes to the news because viewers can be receiving fabricated stories, or exaggerations from news stations who're trying to keep their ratings up.
The one thing I have noticed is that the media really is everywhere. It's almost annoying how often I notice something media related because of this class. As helpful as it is to notice advertising methods, stereotypes, or some of the American Core Values, I really like to have a break from learning, and school related material... but this stuff is constantly around me. The world of media and its methods... thats all I have to say.