{"id":9586,"date":"2006-05-31T06:58:03","date_gmt":"2006-05-31T13:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2006\/05\/31\/the-networks-offer-a-carrot-not-a-stick.html"},"modified":"2006-05-31T06:58:03","modified_gmt":"2006-05-31T13:58:03","slug":"the_networks_of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/05\/31\/the_networks_of.html","title":{"rendered":"The networks offer a carrot, not a stick."},"content":{"rendered":"

So more and more people are getting DVRs like TiVo, and commercial TV networks have been getting more and more up in arms over the “theft” involved in people watching their shows without watching commercials as well. To date, their efforts have been to try and cripple DVRs from being able to skip through commercials (which makes one wonder whether, if they had they power, they’d develop a way to shackle viewers to their chairs).<\/p>\n

But, miracle of miracles, a few enlightened souls have figured out it’s probably more effective, and less alienating, to try to encourage people to watch commercials<\/a>, rather than try and prevent them from not doing so.<\/p>\n

This September, AOL and Mark Burnett Productions will launch “Gold Rush,” an interactive game that asks players to monitor CBS television programs and commercials for clues to find $2 million in gold.<\/p>\n

The game will last for approximately the first two months of the fall television schedule, according to a CBS representative. Clues will be scattered throughout CBS television programs, commercials, the AOL Web site and other media properties, AOL said.<\/p>\n

The game could be a sign of a new tactic in the television advertising battle. As TV show downloads and ad-skipping DVRs pull viewers away from live advertising, the networks must find new ways to draw them in. The solution may be low-tech creativity: constructing new blends of advertising with content viewers are compelled to watch.<\/p>\n

CBS isn’t alone. Since May 3, ABC has featured fictitious ads for the mysterious “Hanso Foundation” during commercial breaks of “Lost.” Viewers who stayed tuned during commercial breaks were rewarded with “ads” featuring phone numbers and Web sites leading to clues about the show.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Amazing — TV networks trying to make themselves more entertaining and desirable to watch. What will they think of next?<\/p>\n

Posted by CyberDave<\/small><\/p>\n

(via BoingBoing<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So more and more people are getting DVRs like TiVo, and commercial TV networks have been getting more and more up in arms over the “theft” involved in people watching…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-moguls"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9430,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/07\/07\/abc_vs_usa.html","url_meta":{"origin":9586,"position":0},"title":"ABC vs. USA","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 7-Jul-06 9:55pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Because, of course, skipping commercials is tantamount to theft. ABC HAS HELD DISCUSSIONS ON the use of technology that would disable the fast-forward button on DVRs, according to ABC President...","rel":"","context":"In "Hi-Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Hi-Tech","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/hi-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10952,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/05\/08\/a_great_leap_backwards.html","url_meta":{"origin":9586,"position":1},"title":"A great leap backwards","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 8-May-07 9:55am","format":false,"excerpt":"You'd think that, faced with a public that Fast Forwards through everything commercial that media companies would figure out (a) how to make commercials more appealing, or less obtrusive, or...","rel":"","context":"In "Commercials & Branding"","block_context":{"text":"Commercials & Branding","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-commercial"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7689,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/01\/17\/feeling_just_a.html","url_meta":{"origin":9586,"position":2},"title":"Feeling just a bit off","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 17-Jan-05 7:34pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I'd noticed this in the past, sort of casually, but have now a lot more aware of it now that I have a DVR: networks screwing around with show start-stop...","rel":"","context":"In "Hi-Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Hi-Tech","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/hi-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24539,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/14\/operators-are-standing-by.html","url_meta":{"origin":9586,"position":3},"title":"OPERATORS ARE STANDING BY!","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 14-Dec-11 10:17pm","format":false,"excerpt":"In my experience, most network and cable networks do a decent job of load-balancing the volume between shows and commercials. The biggest disconnects seem to be where a local station is inserting locally purchased commercials.Of course, most TV we watch is via DVR, and we just 30-second-advance through the commercials\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":136819,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/06\/22\/what-is-it-about-insurance-commercials-these-days.html","url_meta":{"origin":9586,"position":4},"title":"What is it about insurance commercials these days?","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 22-Jun-18 9:58pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I swear to God, the funniest commercials on TV right now, and for a while, are from Geico -- with Progressive and Farmers trailing closely behind.I'm not sure why that's the case (at least to my aesthetic), but as I'm FFing through commercials on the DVR, those are the ones\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":132483,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/01\/japanese-commercials-of-2016.html","url_meta":{"origin":9586,"position":5},"title":"Japanese Commercials of 2016","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 1-Jan-17 11:18pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I have no way of knowing if these are in fact the best commercials from Japan in 2016, but they are certainly ... entertaining. And musical. And shouty. View on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9586\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}