The theme of this year’s Emmy Awards seemed to be: Internet Killed the Television Star. From the opening act to the acceptance speeches given by some of the night’s biggest winners, there was a definite negative vibe permeating the whole ceremony. This, it seemed, was a result of the television industry finally acknowledgingthe fact that more and more viewers are leaving their televisions behind in favor of more dynamic, online media. For anyone thinking about using television as a marketing medium, this year’s Emmys should give you serious reason to pause and reconsider your decision.
“A year after its least-watched telecast ever, the Emmy Awards plaintively acknowledged TV’s changing role in the Internet age, bringing a collective sense of reckoning to the revamped show with everything from scripted jokes about the decline of networks to unemployed stars openly job-seeking.
And the gallows humor started from the top: Neil Patrick Harris opened Sunday’s ceremony with “Put Down the Remote,” in which the first-time host urged viewers “Don’t touch that dial/It’s been quite a while since the dial was in style, but you know what I mean … Don’t jump online/’cause this fine mug of mine needs a huge high-def screen.”
The article goes on to describe how Neil Patrick Harris, the host of the awards show, tries to make light of the fact that television is loosing so badly to the Internet…
“At one point, Harris took his own swipe at broadcast TV during a sketch in his alter ego as Dr. Horrible, the mad scientist of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog, an online musical comedy he did during the Writers Guild strike.
“Television is dead,” sneered Dr. Horrible. “The future of home entertainment is the Internet. Why watch something like this (he spread his arms grandly) when you can see it like this,” whereupon he snapped his fingers and the screen shrunk to postage-stamp size. (He also touted online entertainment’s lack of interruptions — the screen then hiccuped into “buffering” mode — and panicked when his computer battery began fading, ending the bit.)”
And the television industry has good reason to worry. Television ratings are down. Even the nights two biggest winners, and the industries two golden children, Mad Men and 30 Rock. These two shows, adored by critics and industry insiders, are mediocre at best in terms of television ratings. So if these critically acclaimed, award winning shows can’t capture and hold audience attention, what hope is there for the television industry? Not much.
And this is more than just a television or entertainment issue. This is also, very much so, a marketing issue. If more an more of television’s audience is moving online, shouldn’t it make sense for marketers to follow them? Advertising on television is expensive. And since the introduction of cable television, which provides viewers with hundreds of channels, the audience is increasingly segmented and scattered all over the place. Worse, DVR technologies (such as TIVO) make it easy for people to simply zip past the commercials that do make it in front of them. Simply put, advertising budgets are better spent online, for many reasons, than on television.
It’s one thing when an online marketing professional tells you to focus your marketing efforts online. However, it is quite another thing when television stars tell you the same thing. This year’s Emmy Awards Show made it quite clear that television insiders are terrified of the growing power and influence of the Internet. More and more of their audience is abandoning television and turning to the Internet for their entertainment needs. This is not a fad or something cyclical. Last night, television’s biggest stars all turned out to celebrate themselves and no one gave a damn. Keep that in mind when your considering spending (blowing?) your advertising budget on expensive, and increasingly ineffective television ads. And if you would like more information on what Online Marketing can do for your business, or how it can be used to grow and strengthen your brand, please don’t hesitate to contact use directly. The experts at Laser Burn Media can help.
See also: Is Your Business Carpet Bombing?
-Dan Cheek
www.LaserBurnMedia.com
dan@laserburnmedia.com
