YEAH…it is gonna happen. Take note of my recent blog about the “end of free TV.” This is just another example of WHY we’re headed in that direction…and in some ways headed to the way the Masters golf tournament and the way the World Cup soccer event has funded itself for years and years. The World Cup has an entire game “sponsored” by like MasterCard…and during the game the logo/brand of MasterCard just sits there in the lower portion of the screen. It is like a “Title Sponsor” of an event is listed. And the Masterssimply receives so much money from CBS for carrying the event, they just don’t NEED anyone else’s money being listed in the title or having sponsorship signs all over the course. They have so many viewers of the event…that they easily make a ton from the advertisements purchase during the broadcast. So while you see all sorts of ads at baseball stadiums and NASCAR events…the World Cup and the Masters don’t need it. And with that said, coming soon to a device near you, commercials in the traditional sense will eventually get obliterated.
Advertisers, please know, are exceptionally smart and well-heeled so they will always figure out a way…but one of the ways that is coming is just that, sponsored shows. In many ways like product placement the show can “advertise” their product by having it or its family of products shown throughout the show…as opposed to the fee they may currently pay (for example) like when you see an Apple computer being used in a TV show or film. The reality is that MOST large corporation have TONS of subsidiary products so if Pepsi or Coke “sponsors” and entire show…they could like advertise and sell about 3-10 different name brand products in the span of a one hour TV show…or dozens in a Film.
Does that mean that it will be the eventual end of commercials…no, but we’ve already seen over the last 10 years how much commercial money for actors has changed. Unless you happen to be a spokesperson like Flo for Progressive or for Allstate…it can be extremely hard to make any real money on one commercial. Does it happen? Sure, but they’re few and far between. Because of all the changes in “how long” we watch any one thing any more advertisers are “running them less, and for an average less period of time than ever before. Remember that advertising FUNDS television and has for decades so what will have to happen is for advertisers to “be creative” with how they get their message out to consumers within entertainment mechanisms. But it is drastically changing.
What will also happen over time is that Networks will begin to have their Series Regular contracts “include” being REQUIRED (for no or very little extra money) to do commercials for certain “sponsors” of their show…and that again, will both make them more desired to watch but it will also CUT OUT the “JohnQ” random actor from booking those spots. It is a “brave new world” out there and this is just another option that hurts actors that will come to fruition because of what is technologically possible. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, and while it will take some more years for all of this to be REAL…trust me, it’s coming.
Always on your side, @TheKevinE