TV Advertisers Cling to Oscars, SuperBowl

As TV audiences fragment, advertisers are clinging to large-scale "live TV" events that still draw large audiences, i.e., the "Oscars" and the Super Bowl. There's something of a paradox going on: even as audiences shrink, TV networks (in certain cases) have been able to command advertising premiums and the Super Bowl is an example (rates are up from last year).

But every day brings news of another video search/video sharing Web site.

How is all this viral video and fragmentation going to ultimately impact TV advertising and the targeting strategies that must emerge to compensate for loss of audience reach? For example, what will be the contextual match for two guys driving naked through the San Fernando Valley or someone bored in his cubicle at work or two drunk teenagers at a party? And what brand advertiser or local business will want to be associated with those streams? (12-step programs? Monster.com? The Gap?)

This is something we'll be investigating at Drilling Down:

1,000,001 Channels: But Is Anybody Watching?
TV used to be simple for everyone. But the newly fragmenting world of video search, mobile TV, on-demand cable and IPTV makes the range of potential consumer choices staggering. What are the new technologies that are rapidly turning TV from a mass medium to one that is highly personalized? What is the new consumer "video consumption" model, and what are the implications for networks, content producers and advertisers? Will a million "Wayne's Worlds" and the potential "Tower of Babel" effect destroy the medium for advertisers or open it up to a range of exciting new possibilities, including some for SMEs?