Writers' Strike Possibly Changing Broadcast Advertising

The recent months have been an interesting time as far as the media industry is concerned. The writers’ strike which began in November of 07 has yet to be concluded and has the possibility to continue on for weeks. In the forefront it’s easy to just see the ramifications it has on us as the viewers. No longer can we curl up in front of the TV each week and be entertained by the witty comedy on the Office. Almost all network shows have come to a standstill and moved to running reruns.

The reality of the situation is that we may be witnessing the beginning of a new era. While broadcast advertising has yet to see a large hit from the strike due to pre season bids on ad times the ramifications for next year’s shows have yet to be seen. The strike is giving the networks an opportunity to change the way in which they present shows during the year. It is possible that over the next couple months we may see a switch to cable style broadcasting which runs 8-13 show series at a time as opposed to the network’s 22.

What does this mean for advertisers? It could offer them the opportunity to run more fluent and directed campaigns throughout the year. As network TV’s shortcomings become more apparent many have already begun to switch to cable to make up for the loss especially as some analysts say that it is probably too late to salvage the network’s current season. The networks are scrapping their large media pushes to marketers and switching to smaller more focused pushes to single agencies who are weary to jump on board what could be a sinking a ship.

Some advertisers have already begun a switch to cinema advertising which according to Ad Age saw a 15% rise last year. An article in Ad Age mentions Media Vest moving 100 Million dollars in broadcast ads to the cinema for the coming year. The movie industry gives advertisers not only the ability to direct ads at more focused targets but also to do things like extend promotions to the lobbies and hallways of the theatre. Regardless of its benefits though, the cinema can’t compare to the reach of broadcast television.

Although we can predict, no one knows for sure what the next couple months will hold for us. It is possible that we will see big change and also possible that things will remain pretty much the same. In my opinion though if something isn’t broken why fix it? The strike is not a permanent and things will eventually return to normal. I think that if the networks change just to cater to the current advertising needs they may shoot themselves in the foot for the future.