• by Jack Myers , March 2, 2007

Is the future of television the infomercial? Is NBC's "30 Rock" the most sophisticated infomercial in television history, an amazingly effective and often blatant commercial message for GE? What's the line between programming and advertising, and how clearly defined should that line be?

Although "30 Rock" is an expensive, well-written and brilliantly acted prime-time series, how different is it in context from the "Auto Finance Network," a local market, late-night, 30-minute infomercial that presents itself as a TV program, introducing individuals with low credit ratings to Crazy 88, a service where they can buy a new car for $88 down and $88 a month, no matter how bad their credit rating. It's amazing how they can extend that singular message for 30 minutes, but it's also amazing how "30 Rock" can keep GE references fresh and clever for 22 weeks (at least fans hope the series will last that long). It's likely that GE is conducting research on the effect "30 Rock" is having on opinions and perceptions of the corporation. If, in fact, they are conducting such research, they recognize "30 Rock" as a corporate communications tool -- aka infomercial.

At least two new networks are in the works that focus exclusively on advertising as the content, one a linear television channel and the other a broadband network. A cable network, ExpoTV has gained traction as a video-on-demand service featuring high-quality infomercials and user-generated consumer video opinions on various products. As search engine marketing extends into the video marketplace, direct searches for relevant advertising messages will be a highly valued resource for marketers. Completely new advertising investment models will emerge, designed to reach consumers with relevant video messages based on their specific search parameters.

Message telescoping is emerging as an essential component of television and online video campaigns. Watch a short commercial, as short as five seconds, and click either your remote control or your browser to download and store a longer-format video message for later viewing. Canada's etc.tv is testing a service that stores long-form commercial messages -- from 120-seconds to 30-minutes -- at the cable head-end for later viewing. A simple icon pops up on the television screen during programming and commercials alerting viewers a longer message is available and inviting them to simply click "select" to save the video for viewing at any time. No DVR functionality in the home is required.

Time Warner, Comcast, DirecTV, Dish Network and most cable operators either currently have or are developing telescoping functionality. With increased accessibility to long-form messages, more and more marketers will produce long-form infomercial and information-based videos. General Motors produces long-form videos for virtually every model the company offers, and most auto manufacturers are now distributing videos through multiple distribution venues, such as DriveTV, ExpoTV and AdTV.

While the 30-second commercial remains the standard communication format, the clear trend is toward increased use of shorter-format and long-format messaging. The new Myers Emotional Connections® Research studies conducted last year among 6,000 TV viewers establishes that viewers consider infomercials to have significantly greater impact than other programming genres for attentiveness to advertising messages and purchase consideration. During certain late night and weekend time periods, ratings to infomercials are often higher than traditional programming on both broadcast stations and cable networks.

As unattractive as infomercials may seem, they are an embedded part of the landscape. The line between programming and advertising is being crossed more and more and the differentiation between the two is increasingly muddled. Is this a positive trend for advertising and media? Will video kill the video store? Is it okay for advertising and content to be one and the same without clearly specifying ad messages for consumers? What do you think?