Back To The Future

Bringing ads back to TV series makes viewers face a different reality: losing control of what they watch. On top of it, plugging commercials?into air-tight narratives jeopardizes the whole binge-watching experience. Is the "new way" of watching TV coming to an end?

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Profit or Customers?

As Netflix's president of advertisement, Amy Reinhard, shared last month: ad-supported plan customers are spending more than 2 hours per day watching commercials-filled content (read on IMDB). Currently, more than 10% of the company's subscribers are on the lower-price plan – which comes with?ads. But what does it mean for those viewers' experience?

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Captain Hook

From the storytelling point of view, having ads changes everything. If the trend keeps growing (it already amounts to 30% of the new Netflix subscribers, not to mention all the other platforms) we will need to recreate hooks to make sure the audience comes back after the first commercial plays. In the cable era, 7-minute hooks were a norm – will those have to come back?

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Power Switch

If yes, this will dramatically change the viewership experience. Binging with imposed breaks defeats the whole purpose of binging ("to watch many or all episodes in rapid succession"). The remote-control power is being taken away from the audience and sliding back to the content producers' fingers. And that is just a reality - read more about it in our last newsletter Subscription VOiD.

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By hook or by crook

But here is the catch: the TV set, once upon a time the centerpiece of most households, and the only screen available, is no longer the focus of the attention. Distraction comes with new forms of watching content, so commercial breaks are the perfect excuse for scrolling on smartphones?– but what if the small screen holds a more urgent TikTok dance or a WhatsApp message? Will the audience be able to 1) come back to the content?2) reconnect with the narrative 3) live through another?ad break? Truth be said: last time we had commercials, we did not have the small box distractions.

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How we watch TV

Unless you pay more, you will be interrupted by germ-killer sprays, screaming kids with dirty uniforms, organic pet food, and chef-curated meals. And guess what? Executives don't care. They actually prefer that people pay the cheaper tier subscription with ads – it is more lucrative, as Julia Clark, senior VP at TransUnion media and entertainment vertical, affirms in this THR piece.

Well, all I can say is: wait for the break! Meanwhile, let us help your company survive and thrive in this constantly evolving market. ?

Cheers, Laura

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