The ‘Future of Television’ is bright
Television is in a good place at the moment, despite increased competition and more choice, according to some of the panellists at today’s MediaTel Group ‘Future of Television’ seminar.
Speaking before the first panellist debate, AGB Nielsen’s head of commercial operations Alex North, said that despite there being more channels and more choice in the current media market, “TV is still an incredibly powerful medium”.
AGB Nielsen’s research shows that while consumers enjoy having more choice and gadgets such as PVRs, live viewing still remains high on the agenda, especially with programmes such as news and sports.
ITV’s director of group marketing, David Pemsel, was also upbeat about the television market, saying “TV is in good health”.
Panellist Ray Snoddy, meanwhile, said that television viewing is increasing and not declining as a result of the enormous extra choice.
Looking to the future, the panellists agreed that greater engagement between television and online would be essential for the medium moving forward.
Tricia Wilber, executive VP of advertising sales and marketing, said: “TV has a broad reach and ability to build brands, while online has the ability to carry brand messages and engage consumers on an individual basis.
“We need to build cross-platform programmes as each hold value for advertisers, however, in terms of advertising revenue, most money still comes from TV” she added.
FremantleMedia’s executive vice president of FMX, Claire Tavernier, agreed: “Brands need to understand the value of cross-platform and TV and online need to focus on greater engagement – it is necessary for the future of the business.”
A good example of how TV and online can work together includes the recent Cadbury’s “eye-brow” ad, which was firstly enjoyed as a television ad but has had a huge number of hits on YouTube, according to Tavernier.
“TV and online compliment each other, which is a good thing,” Pemsel concluded.
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