New Media and New Habits Growth of Cable and VCRs Greatly Expand PSA Outlets As social scientists assess the revolutionary changes that affected our lives in the past decade, surely the rise of new media and drastic changes in the public's media habits will near the top of the list And it is likely that television will be the focal point for many of these changes.
The decade of the eighties was a time when people began spending much more time at home "cocooning," the social scientists say, and television became an increasingly important part of the home environment.
Today, Americans are not only watching more television than a decade ago, but the type of programming and the method by which it is transmitted and viewed have changed considerably. In 1979, the average household watched TV for six hours and 28 minutes every day. In 2000, the figure has increased to seven hours and 35 minutes.
But Americans are not just watching television for entertainment alone. Increasingly they are watching TV that appeals to their professional and lifestyle interests - a trend that has been made possible through cable.
Cable television's growth in the past decade has been spectacular, and some form of cable is now available in almost 70 percent of U.S. households. Most importantly, it offers almost unlimited viewing options. In 1981, for example, there were only an average of 9 broadcast stations available to a TV household. At the end of the eighties, the average was twelve stations and nearly 30 channels on which the public could watch their favorite programs.
Today there are entire television networks exclusively aimed at children, rock and rollers, comedy aficionados, blacks, Hispanics, sports enthusiasts, news junkies, world travelers and women between the ages of 18 and 49.
Cable Comes of Age
The expanded audiences garnered by CNN's coverage of the Persian Gulf crisis, the "wiring" of America's urban areas, and the growth of "narrowcasting," all provide solid evidence that cable television has arrived. According to media buyers, cable's top performing shows have drawn ratings in the high single-digit and low double-digit brackets - attainments believed to be beyond the medium's reach.
But perhaps the best indication of cable's success is the number of advertisers willing to buy airtime on cable - much to the dismay of the commercial networks that have seen ad budgets and viewing levels plummet recently. According to the Television Bureau of Advertising, cable ad revenues increased to over $13 billion in 2000.
More Diversity on the Way
In view of the growing commercial advertising strength of cable and payments made by system operators for programming rights, more cable start-ups are on the way. At least a dozen new channels have announced plans to enter the market over the next year. The proposed start-ups range from Celtic Vision - a "niche" channel aimed at viewers of Irish descent - to channels for chiller science fiction and cowboy movies, the Food Channel, and Talk Television, a 24-hour a day talk show network.
Other technological developments offering television viewers more options are satellite dishes and VCRs. As satellite technology grow more affordable, people install them in greater numbers to give them almost unlimited program options without subscribing to cable.
As for VCRs, their growth in the decade can only be described as explosive. According to the Television Bureau of Advertising, only about 1.1% of US households owned a VCR in 1980. In 2000, over 85% of US households own the device.
Since most VCRs also come equipped with remote control devices, a new lexicon of TV terms has entered our vocabulary, as viewers "zip" through commercials on their recorded programs, "zap" out undesirable messages and "graze" from one program to another.
As lifestyles change and the ability to target media increases, we are seeing the rise of so-called "place-based" media - media that reach users in schools, doctors waiting rooms and in supermarkets. Free television sets are provided to schools which agree to carry Channel One, produced by Whittle Communications, which comes with its own commercial sponsors. Several different program distributors are testing waiting room television programs, and a point-of-sale television system for supermarkets called the Checkout Channel is in the testing stage.
The next quantum leap is to interactive media which permits viewers to respond to questions presented on television screens, and become much more involved in programs rather than just viewers. The implications of this type of television for instant feedback on political races and product purchases are enormous.
While perhaps not as dramatic, the print media also are undergoing considerable change, as publishers encourage increased newspaper readership and magazines reach out to serve highly defined "psychographic profiles." Every year hundreds of new consumer magazines are published; their foci range from automobiles, computers and food to special journals for gay readers, brides and others.
Radio has not experienced the scope of changes affecting television. One technological innovation in radio, however, is a low-powered FM transmitter that can broadcast in a radius of up to 600 feet and can can be purchased for $600. Used primarily to reach "drive-by" audiences, many banks, real estate brokers, and fast food outlets are employing them to provide reminder messages and other information.
In Baltimore, a low-power radio transmitter was added to a billboard giving those passing by a message to reinforce the billboard. A Wisconsin theatre chain teases patrons waiting in the parking lot with movie trivia questions. Where this technology will go, and its implications to the public scurrying from one place to another, no one can guess.
As these changes take place, tried and true media vehicles are adjusting to new realities in the marketplace.
Most notable among these realities is the significant decrease in network television viewing habits, which in turn has led to reduced network advertising expenditures. At the same time, cable TV subscriptions skyrocketed during the past decades, from 20 percent in 1980 to almost 70% in 2002.
The networks are currently embroiled in a controversy surrounding the practice of guaranteeing sponsors specific audience numbers. According to the Wall Street Journal, in the first half of 1990, the networks were forced to issue "make-goods" for undelivered audiences of between 150 and 200 million dollars. NBC, which for years played down the importance of cable's inroads, now is hedging its bet with a cable network of its own, CNBC (Consumer News and Business Cable).
The big three may have competition from another source as well, in the form of Fox Broadcasting. Fox, which has a loose confederation of 125 affiliates, provides a nightly newscast for its affiliates which helped the company to become a formalized network.
PSA Implications
The growth of new media outlets and the revolution in media technology offers mostly good news to organizations producing and distributing public service advertising campaigns:
- An increase in unsold TV network airtime could result in greater PSA availability, both at national and local levels.
- As cable audiences continue to grow, cable PSA placements will reach a much greater share of the overall population.
- The highly defined audiences delivered by cable and place-based media offer an opportunity to deliver messages to those most at risk and those practicing unsafe or irresponsible behavior - the focus of many public service advertising campaigns.
- PSA distributors approaching cable networks with mainstream campaign appeals will not be faced with stringent legal clearances and arbitrary decision-making currently in existence at the three major TV networks.
- PSAs can be placed at the beginning or end of video cassettes to reinforce movie themes about pressing social problems.
- Similar to cable, the growing number of magazines will permit PSA producers to reach upscale and highly defined audiences.
A final result that could benefit public education professionals, is that television stations are under increased budgetary pressure to reduce staff. Many stations caught in the budget crunch have eliminated units devoted to program and news specials. To fill the void, many are turning to VNRs (Video News Releases) and other externally produced programming.
Perhaps the only downside to the new media revolution is that audiences will be increasingly "fractured," making it more difficult to register a consistent message among the masses. Also, because distribution systems will be much more diffused, getting PSAs in the hands of gatekeepers is likely to be more expensive and difficult.
On balance, however, the new vehicles now in place and those on the drawing board for the remainder of the decade, present mass communicators an unprecedented opportunity for exposure.
