Advertisers face fight for viewers

Advertisers will have to do more to seduce internet TV viewers by sponsoring shows and making commercials consumers actually want to watch.

A predicted reversal of the age-old rule that advertising pays for TV is forcing the change. Overseas, people can download TV shows for free with ads or pay for ad-free programming.

The first group shelling out for ad-free TV are the young and wealthy viewers whom advertisers already find hard to reach.

Nielsen Media Research this week unveiled plans in the United States to measure TV viewing on the internet, mobile phones and other gadgets - a move that could dramatically change the way viewership figures are tallied and shift advertising spending.

The challenge for New Zealand advertisers will only increase once more broadcast platforms, such as internet and mobile, become available here, says media buyer Martin Gillman, Total Media's chief executive.

Instead of commercial breaks being dominant, expect to see more programme sponsorship and products being integrated into shows.

"We've moved from the old days of being flashers to being seducers," says Gillman. "Instead of saying 'look, here I am' and you open your raincoat and bare all, it's more to do with how do we involve our potential customers with our products in a way that is positive."

Gillman believes broadcast TV will remain dominant in the medium term and predicts a general shift towards consumers paying for content rather than advertisers.

He compares the change to New Zealanders' growing acceptance of pay-TV.

"If you were talking 10 years ago and you said 'it will not be long before the All Blacks will only be seen [on TV] live on subscription TV' everyone would have said 'no, no, no, no, of course it wouldn't [happen]'. But of course it has," says Gillman.

"The consumer purchase will probably replace advertiser funding."

Michael Carney, media strategist for the advertising planning agency MediaCom, is setting up an internet site (TVme) to direct New Zealanders to websites where they can download television.

Emerging television platforms are good for advertisers because audiences can be more closely targeted.

"If the website proprietors know enough about you and your interests, they can sell advertising related to you - then you'll happily watch it."

But Kevin Blight, chief executive of media buying agency Mitchell & Partners, says New Zealand's small population makes niche television advertising difficult.

"If you're thinking about a really niche market, 100,000 people or 50,000 people, and you're contacting them through this mechanism, then how much is it going to cost you to make the ad?"