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TV Networks Put Their Hope in 'Pod-Busters' How to Keep Viewers From Skipping Ads?

Posted on: Tuesday, 8 July 2008, 06:00 CDT

By Stuart Elliott

Summer in the city. Humidity, long lines to get out of town and worries on Madison Avenue about how to get viewers to sit still during commercial breaks.

This year, for the 2008-2009 television season, the networks are betting on a panoply of "pod-busters" - unconventional content meant to entice viewers to pay attention during the commercial breaks, which are also called pods.

"If I could get half those people to turn their heads toward the screen, I've significantly increased the value of my client's commercial," said Kris Magel, senior vice president and director for national broadcast at Initiative, a media agency owned by Interpublic Group.

Making pods more alluring has become a necessity since the networks agreed last fall to use ratings for commercial viewing, rather than for programs, as the standard for sales to advertisers. Results for the 2007-2008 season were skewed by the writers' strike, but in homes with TiVos and other digital video recorders, viewers increasingly wander off during long, cluttered pods.

"Longer pods, with more commercials, have gotten crazy," said David Sklaver of KSL Media in New York.

"It's feels like a sea of advertising," he said of the long breaks. "You're inviting viewers to leave, instead of giving them reasons to stay."

Companies like TiVo and TNS Media Intelligence can even track second by second what viewers are tuning in or turning off, making the challenges even more apparent.

"Advertising has yet to respond to the reality that people can choose whether they want to watch or not," said Michael Lotito, chief of Media IQ, a media analysis company. "That puts pressure on to work harder."

So networks are experimenting with several kinds of pod-busters.

Here are examples:

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Brief programs, called minisodes, microseries or bitcoms, are sponsored by marketers. Think of them as shows that interrupt commercials that interrupt shows.

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Clips, also sponsored, combine elements of commercials and programs. Many feature cast members of the shows in which they appear.

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Promotions for network shows appear inside episodes of other shows, thanks to special effects. For instance, a truck in a scene of the Discovery series "Mythbusters" briefly displayed a reminder to watch a coming episode of another Discovery series, "When We Left Earth." The embedded tune-in, as Discovery calls it, lasts three to five seconds.

"It's a form of creative insinuation," said John Ford, president at Discovery Channel U.S., part of Discovery Communications. "It's a little Zen-like: being intrusive without seeming intrusive." On the drawing board is a promotion for "Shark Week" during the series "Deadliest Catch," during which digital sharks will leap from the water.

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Networks match the themes or subjects of ads with the programs.

For example, a commercial in a pod during the movie "Father of the Bride" could be a Nationwide insurance spot set at a wedding.

"The engagement metrics are off the charts, when we do it well," said Mike Pilot, president for sales and marketing at NBC Universal, part of General Electric.

That is easier said than done, Pilot acknowledged, recalling a year's worth of "pod-buster concepts we thought would hold viewers." But after producing more than 50, he said, "we found that nothing worked."

The solution, he said, was "experimenting with new kinds of content that integrate an advertiser brand with our show brand," like a cartoon version of the singer Beyonce pitching American Express and the series "Heroes"; using characters named Mike and Steve to promote AT&T Wireless along with the NBC Thursday comedy lineup; and "Last Comic Driving," in which contestants from "Last Comic Standing" tell jokes while riding in a Honda.

Pod-busters called "Inside Look" on BBC America address plot points of the series in which they appear, including "Life on Mars" and "Torchwood." At the start of a pod, an announcer asks viewers to stay tuned because "coming up in the break" is an actor or crew member discussing a recent scene from the show.

"We want to explore every way we can keep viewers engaged," said Andrew Jackson, senior vice president at BBC Worldwide Americas, part of the BBC Worldwide division of the British Broadcasting Corp.

BBC America plans to sell sponsorships of the "Inside Look" segments in the coming season, Jackson said.

Several networks are playing multiple choice with pod-busting, trying a variety of "made you look" efforts.

For instance, TBS, part of Turner Entertainment, will offer four different pod-busters - bitcoms, which will feature comedians performing skits about sponsors like Pizza Hut; microseries, two- minute shows that integrate advertisers like Revlon into plots; customized spots for series like "House of Payne" and "My Boys," featuring cast members promoting sponsors like Chrysler and Alltel; and matchups between the themes of spots and shows, known as TV in Context.

TBS is also creating promotions for a series, "The Bill Engvall Show," that stop the shows in which they run. Engvall appears on the bottom third of the screen during a show like "Family Guy" and points a remote control as if pausing the scene. The show stops, he delivers a spiel for his series, he points the remote again and the show resumes.

"Pod-busting is big, but it has to be based on a creative idea to mean anything," said Linda Yaccarino, executive vice president for sales and marketing at Turner Entertainment, part of the Turner Broadcasting System unit of Time Warner.

As for critics who complain that some ideas blur the line between advertising and entertainment, Yaccarino said: "Our viewers are very vocal, and we listen to them every day. When it doesn't work, we hear about it."

Originally published by The New York Times Media Group.

(c) 2008 International Herald Tribune. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Source: International Herald Tribune

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