Broadcasters Consider New Channels

As consumers move to new interactive platforms and consume content, broadcasters are scrambling to find a strategy for adopting and monetizing these new channels.

Delivery mechanisms such as online, mobile, and digital video recorders like TiVo present both challenges and opportunities for advertisers, Maria Mandel, partner and head of interactive at Ogilvy & Mather, said at the TimeShift: Advertising & Broadcast Summit at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference this week.

Consumers are deciding “what they watch, when they watch, and on what devices they want to watch,” she said.

TiVo remains a point of contention between advertisers, who see the platform as a threat, and TV executives who maintain the device is an opportunity, according to Accenture research. “Companies are going to have to iterate and hybridize business models,” said Jamyn Edis, senior manager of media and entertainment at Accenture.

To capture ad dollars moving to the Web, broadcasters like CBS, NBC, ABC and other networks now offer their shows on the Web, many with ad support.

Online content is one of many emerging platforms for broadcasters and advertisers to consider. Mandel pointed to a shift from linear content which existed as recently as two years ago to a model where consumers dictate the characteristics of the content they watch, including time and screen. In terms of syndication, broadcasters “are realizing that television isn’t the only place they can monetize their content,” she said.

To keep up with shifting content models, “there needs to be flexibility in marketing and agency dollars,” Mandel said.