Though I didn’t fill out any brackets or place any bets on the outcome of the NCAA basketball tournament, I am a fan. I like college ball sometimes even better than the NBA because the game isn’t about a team’s superstars. It is more about fundamentals and well executed team play. That, however, is not the subject of this post.
I do not watch very much TV and what I do watch is usually pre-recorded on my PV-R (or as they say in the country to the south, DV-R). The result of this is that I don’t watch many commercials. This is a benefit to my life, in general. I don’t care about beer commercials, I don’t care about the latest invention at the local fast food place, and I don’t generally need to know what toys I am not going to buy for my friends’ small children.
Today though, I am sitting on the couch happily taking part in the March Madness and all I want is to see the same commercials as the people watching in the USA. I don’t entirely understand the reasoning, I just know that in Canada the advertisers don’t pay for the air time in the same way so the commercials here are completely repetitive. I have been a couch potato for most of the day and I have seen the same commercials probably in every 3 commercial breaks.
Does anyone else find this annoying? Is it just me?
Oh and because I need to prove I have been reading other things all day, this is a great op-ed.
Rabbi Eleanor Steinman 
If you think this is bad – try figure skating – the same exact ads over and over and over – sometimes twice in the same ad break! I agree, it is rather tedious and frustrating. I don’t know why US firms don’t spring for the few extra bucks and allow us to see their ads. We have most if not all of their products here – why not reinforce their marketing messages up here too? I suspect the market in Canada is not as understood – we have fewer people, spread out all over the country. And two languages. But you would think in a market like Southern Ontario we might attract more advertisers. I also wonder, for those who do care to advertise if they take into consideration the aggravation factor of so much repetition. Or perhaps they think that any impression, negative or positive, is an impression.
Well, that’s my take.
Canadian stations pay for the right to simulcast programming and the only revenue they can get to pay for these rights is to gather support from Canadian Advertisers. Moreover, the CRTC has strict guildelines as to what can be aired in Canada. To advertise in Canada you require approval numbers from both ASC and Telecaster.
The Canadian regulations allow for very little creativity in advertising. Our company has a significant advertising budget for television and I know that when we submit a spot for approvals, they tend to require significant revisions from what can air in the USA. In other words, they suck the life out of the spot. (by the way…. you are bypassing my ads for those toys you do not want to buy)
Turning now to the frequency of a spot in this time period, many suppliers and advertisers concentrate their efforts on their primary target market. In this case you are talking to fundamentally males aged 18-45. So what do you get? Beer, cars and food. Maybe if you are lucky, an insurance spot.
Master (the Lock Company) advertised the same commercial for years, once a year and one time only. This was during the Super Bowl. Why? Men purchase hardware and the imagry of a lock shattering as a bullet strikes it has tremendous impact on the male as to the integrity of the product. They shelled out close to $1 Million for this.
As for PV or DV-r’s, they are changing the way people watch. I believe that the newest versions of the PVR’s will not allow you to skip over the commercials. Why is this you ask? because we advertisers pay for the shows you all watch through our media purchases. The less you watch the ads, the lower the sales at retail. Advertisers then need to find alternate ways to get their message out there and pull their media budgets. The end result is what you are seeing today where local stations and networks are demanding increased fees from the cable providers to cover costs. You, the viewer then pay significantly more for the right to watch your shows and we all know this is expensive enough as it is.
Are you prepared to pay more for your viewing pleasure?