Is Television Advertising Annoying?

In most countries in the world, broadcast television is available for free to anyone who has a television set.   Obviously, nothing is ever really for free.  So in return for receiving free entertainment and information over the airwaves, television viewers have to watch television commercials coming from the people who sponsor those programs.

Television commercials come in many forms, such as:

• the traditional 30-second commercial, with variations such as 5-second, 10-second, 15-second, 45-second, 60-second and so on
• public service announcements
• 30-minute or longer infomercials touting specific products and services
• sponsor logos superimposed artificially on soccer fields or basketball courts
• static or rotating billboards in broadcasts of live events
• home shopping channels that are commercial in nature all the time
• product placements within the television programs, such as the soft drink in the hand of the actor

 Attitudes towards these television commercials vary.  Some of the considerations include:

• Given that people watch television for a significant number of hours per day, the commercials affords people time to go to the bathroom or make a snack for themselves.  Indeed, one of the first anecdotal measurement of television commercial audience was made by the water commissioner in Toledo (Ohio), who observed that the decline in water pressure coincided with television commercial breaks.
• Some people find that some television commercials are interesting and entertaining in their own right.
• Some people would believe that television advertising is evil in the sense that the advertising industry bombards the viewers with thousands of images every day, all to persuade them to consume and consume, to the neglect of the higher things in life such as education, social awareness and personal relationships.  Out of these concerns, some countries have restrictions on both the quality and quantity of television advertising permitted on television.  These rules may vary by time of day, usually with greater restrictions when there is a significant young audience who are presumably less likely to be able to distinguish between reality and advertising.
• Some people find television advertising annoying and disruptive.  For example, television commercials disrupt the flow of televised films.  As another example, during live broadcasts of sports events, television commercials seem to have the uncanny ability to appear just when something significant develops in the event.

We will be referring to some data from the TGI Puerto Rico study, which is a multimedia study conducted by Mediafax Inc to collect demographics, media consumption, product usage and lifestyle information.  The study had a sample of 2,055 individuals aged 12 or more, who were interviewed between February and April, 1999. 

The key question here is the statement, "Nearly all television advertising annoys me."  Of the 2,055 persons, 13% said that they definitely agree with this statement.  This is an important information for advertisers and advertising agencies to know.  The successful communication depends not solely on the sender delivering the message, but the recepient has to be receptive.  Obviously, a general resentment towards television advertising as a whole is not conducive towards a receptive attitude.

In addition, we should be careful that this attitude differs among people.  The following chart shows how this attitude varies among people who say that they watch television during different parts of the day.  Bearing in mind that the overall level in the population is 13%, annoyance at television advertising increases among viewers in the early morning and late night dayparts, when there are in fact more commercial minutes per hour.  We will also note the slight bump between 3pm and 6pm across the entire week --- on weekdays, this daypart is dominated by children programming and talk shows; on weekends, this daypart is dominated by sports events and movies.

(source: TGI Puerto Rico, Mediafax Inc)

WWW REFERENCE

• Center for Media Education (1993)  Comments to the Federal Communications Commission on Limitations On Commercial Time on Television Broadcast Stations.

(posted by Roland Soong on 3/11/00)

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