Commentary

Trimming The Cable Network Fat: Fewer Commercials At Turner And Viacom

by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, January 8, 2016

Viacom and now Turner are set to significantly reduce their advertising loads on some key networks -- cutting back on the on-air commercial clutter that has gotten out of hand.

Consumers will be cheering. But what about those TV executives who need to maintain overall advertising revenue those networks bring in?

One veteran senior advertising cable executive told MediaPost plainly: “They are going to take a hit. But they have to do it.”

We heard the stories -- especially at Viacom’s MTV and Comedy Central.

For example, things got so bad at Viacom’s MTV, non-program time could rise over 20 minutes per hour. That meant during its three-hour prime-time block -- 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. -- it could only schedule five half-hour TV shows. (It should have been airing six half-hour shows for those six half-hour programming positions).

Why the change now? It didn’t come from more than a decade of complaints from TV marketers and their media agencies, according to executives.

The tipping point came from growing volume of complaints from its viewers via social media. Yes, you know how often the likes of MTV’s young millennials, Gen-Xers, and others use social media -- and how much social media means to them.

Turner Broadcasting has already announced its truTV will be getting its commercial load cut in half by the end of the year. Now TNT will be cutting back as well, according to Kevin Reilly, president of TNT and TBS.

“We’ve overstuffed the bird”, he said at the recent Television Critics Association meeting in Pasadena. Initially, Reilly wants to cut advertising on three new dramas slated to air on TNT by 50%.

TV networks executives are hoping less clutter will mean some premium pricing for the commercials positions that remain. Additionally, look for Turner and Viacom to amp up branded entertainment and native advertising efforts.

But competing executives say it won’t make up for overall revenue lost from fewer overall TV commercials.

Still, the cable TV bird will be looking better: less stuffing, more meat.

advertising, cable, cable tv, tv

3 comments about "Trimming The Cable Network Fat: Fewer Commercials At Turner And Viacom".

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charles bachrach from BCCLTD, January 8, 2016 at 2:13 p.m.
Sure, they'll cut back on the NUMBER of commercials, but then raise the rates for the remainder.
The networks only care about their bottom line, not the consumer and/or viewer
Reply

Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, January 8, 2016 at 9:55 p.m.

"More matter. Less art." (Hamlet, his mother to Polonius)

Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, January 11, 2016 at 1:36 p.m.

If Charles is right---and he probably is----the cable channels named in this report will, no doubt, go for higher CPMs to make up for their reduced commercial "loads"---if they can pull this off. However, fewer ads is a plus for the viewer, not a minus, so it's not necessarily fair to say that the sellers don't give a hoot about the viewer. Obviously, this move---if it is real----is caused by concerns over lower ratings, which reflect viewer response to both program content and the amount of ad clutter. At least one of these is being addressed. If advertisers pay more per viewer they may also get somewhat more attentive viewers, with reduced zapping, hence higher recall levels. The trade-off sort of makes sense, doesn't it?