The Future of the 30-Second Spot: With the growing popularity of digital video recorders like TiVo, as well as video-on-demand, viewers are fine-tuning their relationships with television in ways that would have been unfathomable just a decade ago, watching shows when and how they want - not when some distant, towering network demands.
But the technology behind all that small-screen freedom cuts two ways. The same digital set-top boxes that turn your television into an ad-zapping, instant-gratification device also provide an opportunity for the advertising-dependent television business to rejuvenate and rejigger the time-honored 30-second spot. [...]
Marketers recognize the need to tailor their messages to different, more finely calibrated audiences. [...]
Internet advertising, meanwhile, having recovered from the industry's burst bubble, has become more enticing to marketers. They appreciate the ability to pinpoint their audience and to get instant feedback about how well their message has resonated. [...]
[B]y 2007, time-shifting and ad-skipping will begin putting considerable pressure on the prices that television networks can charge for commercial time.
The pain can already be felt. Dozens of big marketers have expressed their frustration with the existing model of television advertising.
Man Sells Device That Blocks Fox News: It's not that Sam Kimery objects to the views expressed on Fox News. The creator of the "Fox Blocker" contends the channel is not news at all. Kimery figures he's sold about 100 of the little silver bits of metal that screw into the back of most televisions, allowing people to filter Fox News from their sets, since its August debut.
The Tulsa, Okla., resident also has received thousands of e-mails, both angry and complimentary ? as well as a few death threats.
"Apparently the making of terroristic threats against those who don't share your views is a high art form among a certain core audience," said Kimery, 45.
