Sunday, February 25, 2007

Welcome to Jay's Ad Blog

Hello, everyone. I am a senior in the University or Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. This blog will feature some of my thoughts and insights regarding advertising in all its forms. So if you're into advertising and you like reading random thoughts from random college students, then this blog is for you. If not, you've probably already stopped reading. Well, let's get right to it.

The New York Times reported recently that a study conducted by the Nielsen Company found that DVR and Tivo owners, on average, still watch roughly two-thirds of television ads. Many viewers tune in for their favorite shows at their scheduled times, and sit through the ads anyway. Many viewers who use the DVR feature, though, still sit through the commercials.

After hearing from professors for years how Tivo will change the television ad business forever, I guess I'm a bit surprised. After all, it's much more convenient and much less time consuming to watch a 20-minute show than a 30-minute show. So if these people are recording these shows, why would they still watch the commercials.

For my part, I believe that the commercial break is so ingrained into our brains that many people probably forget. Also, instead of pausing to grab a snack or go to the bathroom, commercials offer built-in stopping points. And, of course, there are the people who live for commercials--whom I will never understand so I'm not even going to try.

What all this means for the future of television ads is hard to say. But maybe now we'll stop hearing rumblings about the end of TV ads.

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