Television ads are about to get a lot less expensive

AC Nielsen has announced that starting in November, it will begin to provide TV ratings for commercials. Currently, Nielsen measures a show block in its entirety. If you tune in to watch any part of a show, Nielsen reports you also watched the ads.

This is big news for advertisers. The expected outcome is that many people either change the channel or skip the commercials. Advertisers will then be prepared to negotiate much lower ad rates or will simply put some of their ad dollars where people are going - the internet.

The way I see it, this is good news all around. Television ads are way too expensive given the ROI. Maybe now marketers will look at other ways to sell their products and services that are effective. Internet advertising can certainly be one of those ways, but I see this as a wake up call to many marketing executives and CEOs. Just as print readership has gone from newspapers to the internet, so too are television viewers. It only makes sense that the marketing spend follow the consumers.


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