TV Networks Recast the Role of Commercials

On February 29 network television viewers will get a glimpse into the future of television advertising. Long dependent on conventional commercials, television networks are now re-evaluating their advertising strategies as fears about cord-cutting and steep ratings declines intensify.

“We see a great challenge but also a great opportunity to reinvent what the advertising experience can look like in different shows and in different environments,” said Alison Tarrant, executive vice president for client partnerships at NBCUniversal. The shift in TV advertising is likely to happen gradually, but it has also been a long time coming. For years, networks crammed in more ads, in part to offset lower ratings, said Brian Wieser, a media analyst at Pivotal Research. Commercials on broadcast networks accounted for 17.3 percent of programming time in 2015, from 16.8 percent in 2012 according Wieser’s analysis of Nielsen data. On cable networks, commercials accounted for 20.6 percent of program time, from 19.3 percent in 2012. That strategy, however, may have pushed away more viewers and lowered ratings further.