The End of Mass Marketing?

Recent Neilson ratings are showing a dramatic drop-off of TV viewership. The network nightly news ratings are dropping substantially (and have been for some time). While the networks seem surprised, they shouldn't be.

It seems like the family dinner meal (with Walter Cronkite in the background) is long gone. The advent of 24 hour news channels (lots of them), make choices greater than ever. By the time the nightly news airs, the stories are already old.

Add a political filter to some news channels (appealing to Republicans or Democrats) and the viewing audience is segmented even further. With expanded choices, we have become a nation of niche consumers (and perhaps we've always been).

More content and more delivery options.....

Now we have many ways and devices with which we can receive content (DVRs, TIVO, cell phones, iPods, computers), that are not easily accounted for, using traditional ratings systems. While Neilson ratings include recorded content, they only count those shows viewed within 24 hours of original broadcast towards a show's rating.

In my case, I time shift everything I watch. For example, I record hour long shows throughout the week, which I watch each morning while on the treadmill. There's no urgency to view these shows within 24 hours because I only walk for one hour per day! In fact, we own three DVRs, all recording different shows, for different family members. We all time shift viewing.

The third big challenge for TV advertisers is the fact that just because a show contains ads doesn't guarantee that anyone is actually seeing them. My own "live" viewing habits have changed. I tend to "pause" live TV and skip past the commercials. (In the old days, we took bathroom breaks!). I always skip past ads on DVR shows. I'm actually a Zen Master at it - stopping just as the show resumes.

Can you imagine the angst that this is causing Marketing departments? As Neilson ratings drop, so will the advertising rates. Now what will Marketers do with those big ad budgets?

They may actually be forced to do what they should have been doing all along - to find audiences who are interested in their messages and passionate about their products/services. Then try to find a way to get their loyal consumers to spread this message via word of mouth.

Take a quick test. Answer two questions:

1. What's your favorite network TV show?
2. Who sponsors it?

If your answer to #2 was "I don't know.", you're in the majority. And that's why mass marketing is no longer effective.

To be honest, my favorite TV show is on HBO. And they don't have sponsors.