Added: 07/31/2005 |
Ins and Outs of Cable TV AdvertisingThe history of cable TV began in the 40s of the last century in a small city of Pennsylvania. The quality of broadcasting was so poor that people had to extend of cable of the antenna installed in the mountains. This service was named CATV (community antenna television). For a long time cable TV was popular mostly in provinces where there were problems with the quality of broadcasting and signal transmitted from TV stations. However, in the 70s cable TV gained popularity all over the States, in the countryside and cities alike. Today cable TV covers about 70 percent of American households whish have TV sets, and the total amount of advertising on cable TV rapidly increases.
There are two factors that attract more and more advertisers to cable TV:
1. channel brand identification which attracts various audience segments to them, i.e. MTV or Animal Planet;
2. creating first run programs.
Let us take a closer look at the positive sides of cable TV that attract advertisers. First of all, cable TV offers advertisers a direct contact with the particular segments of their target customers. Many cable TV channels stick to certain themes, and their audiences are highly specific. The image of a channel is a matter of great importance for TV viewers, advertisers and media buyers. That is why channels are very careful in selecting the programs for airing. Cable TV channels also invest a lot of money into creating new high rating shows.
Another very important advantage of advertising on cable TV is a low price of advertising time. Because of the high level of competitions and their desire to attract more customers, both large and small, cable TV channels do not charge for advertising time as much as broadcasting TV stations, and the advertising rates do not increase so fast.
In the summertime, when the activity of broadcasting networks slows down, cable TV channels put a lot of effort into attracting new and large audiences of viewers. While broadcasting networks mostly air re-runs, they show the shows and programs that have the highest ratings.
This policy has resulted in the significant redistribution of advertising funds. Even though the most of the advertising revenues are received by large cable networks, the investments into local cable channels have increased immensely. The main clients of the latter are both nationwide advertisers that wish to strengthen their positions on local markets and small advertisers such as local retailers, dealers, cafes and restaurants, etc. The cost of advertising on cable TV is affordable to them.
The future of cable TV and advertising belongs to interactivity and further segmentation of target markets. The main goal of cable channels today is to find their niches and themes that are interesting both to viewers and advertisers. As for advertisers, it is crucial for them to clearly define their target market segments and find the channels that cover them to the largest extent possible.
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