Writers’ strike: advertisers feel the pinch
p2pnet news | Advertising:- The continuing Hollywood writers’ strike is affecting more than just the studios.
Advertisers are getting seriously antsy as well because the industrial action also means fewer viewers for product promos.
“Repeats, or reruns, are not appealing to advertisers as they generally draw lower ratings than fresh episodes,” said Reuters recently.
And when the likes of “The Office,” “Desperate Housewives” and “24″ halted production, the supply of ready-to-air prime-time hits came under threat – and that has been unsettling to advertisers, says Associated Press.
Says Reuters:
The $70 billion television advertising industry is still considered the best way to promote brands and products, despite the buzz over advertising in digital media like cell phones and video games.
A prolonged strike by screenwriters, however, could lead to big changes. Audience ratings are likely to slip without new TV shows to watch, and as viewers move elsewhere, so too will advertisers.
“The real worry is what effect a prolonged strike could have on future TV show development and on audience loyalty to big-name shows, particularly as viewers face more and more choices for watching video – streamed over the Internet, uploaded to a media player or on cable channels,” says AP.
And “I don’t know how long it will take, but viewers will start to go to other places, and we as advertisers have to follow them,” Reuters has Lisa Herdman, vice president of network programming at RPA, an advertising and media buying agency, saying. “Whether we will go back to TV is another question altogether.”
In many ways, experts say, the strike couldn’t be worse for the TV industry, “given how much competition it faces for audiences and advertisers from the Web, iPods and every other sort of digital media,” says the story.
Also See:
getting seriously antsy – Hollywood writers’ strike: yawn, November 6, 2007
Reuters – Advertisers watch for TV reruns as strike starts, November 6, 2007
Associated Press – Advertisers Leery of TV Strike Fallout, November 13, 2007
Reuters – Writers strike could mean big changes in advertising, November 13, 2007
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