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Are you ready for TV pop-ups?(Tampa Tribune (FL) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jun. 22--TAMPA -- That hallmark of Internet life -- the pop-up ad -- may be coming to a TV screen near you. Cable and satellite TV companies serving the Tampa Bay area have begun experimenting with onscreen features and advertising that are more interactive and, they argue, helpful for TV viewers and clients. The first interactive pop-up TV features range from a caller ID screen that shows who is calling -- in a window that appears on the TV screen -- to interactive car ads that ask viewers to click their remotes if they would like to find a local dealer. For now, the new pop-up features are subtle and voluntary for viewers holding the remote control. But media experts say new forms of interactive TV advertising are likely to emerge and take off as marketers devote more money to reach consumers who have an increasing array of media choices competing for their disposable time and attention. Land Rover, Capital One, Dodge, HBO and other big brand-name companies have interactive ads running through companies such as DirecTV and Dish Network. One Dodge ad seen by DirecTV customers asks viewers to "push select" on their remote to check out the chilled cup holders and Boston Acoustics stereo in the new 2007 Dodge Caliber. They can order a Dodge video game on CD, which will be sent to the address DirecTV has on file for the customer. Michael Arden, an analyst with New York-based ABI Research, said "ultimately they want TV shows with products onscreen that you can click and save information about them or buy them." Cable and satellite companies increasingly will compete for advertisers willing to pay more to book advertising viewers can interact with, he said. Cable and satellite TV providers declined to say how much of a premium they charge for interactive ads. For cable and satellite TV companies, these advertising methods represent a high-stakes balancing act as they seek to generate new revenue through interactive connections to the living room without alienating TV viewers with ads they might find distracting or annoying -- as is the case with Internet pop-up ads. The approaches are relatively new, so Arden said there are few statistics that show real effectiveness of interactive ads, though he notes that the real value for advertisers is generating a sales lead and hard data about who watched what commercials when. The ability to pin down effectiveness is one reason spending on interactive advertising reached $3.9 billion for the first quarter of 2006, up 38 percent from the same time a year before, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Still, not all cable companies are sold on pop-up ads. "We tried this in test markets and, frankly, it was not well-received," said Michael Thompson, director of marketing for Knology Inc. cable systems, which provides cable in parts of Pinellas County. Knology tested interactive ads and onscreen games such as solitaire two years ago. "People saw it as almost a nuisance," Thompson said. Customers consider TV viewing a passive "lean back" experience on the couch, compared with an active "lean forward" experience at a computer." For now, most companies are proceeding slowly, adding features that can show real-time weather, news and sports scores. Bright House, the dominant cable TV provider in the Bay area, a few months ago launched a system that pops up a window on TV screens when a customer's phone rings and shows the name of the caller. This month, Bright House is launching interactive ads that promote the company's digital phone service to households that have not signed up for it. For viewers of shows such as "Last Comic Standing," Bright House is offering an interactive poll that asks which comic should lose or win -- then shows a real-time vote tally from the customer's region. Verizon, which is deploying cable TV service in the region, offers a voluntary system called "widgets" that shrinks the TV program image and display a crawler underneath with traffic and weather. Future widgets, Verizon executives said, could include personalized news and fantasy sports results based on real-life games. It's a delicate issue, Verizon executives said. "The thinking is that the customer will not like any advertisement unless it's for something they really want," said William Garrett, director of broadband services for Verizon. Satellite TV companies have been more aggressive with interactive ads. For example, Dish Network, with 12.2 million subscribers, started showing ads for Dodge and Land Rover this year that ask viewers to "push select" on their remote to find a local dealer or order a brochure. Advertisers such as Ford, Mercedes, Lee jeans, ADT Security Services, Hewlett-Packard, Capital One and HBO also have bought interactive ads, said Michael Norton, programming manager for Dish Network. DirecTV, with 15.4 million subscribers, is experimenting with a "What's Hot" feature that shows the most popular show in a given city. DirecTV gathers ratings data through the telephone link into set-top boxes typically used to order pay-per-view movies. This July, DirecTV will start a program with the New York Yankees to broadcast games with at least two separate camera angles onscreen together, said Eric Shanks, executive vice president of entertainment for the company. "This will be a 'bonus cam' where the Yankees might focus on Derek Jeter for an inning," Shanks said. Digital "player cards" with real-time statistics also will be featured. With each new feature, the company hopes to attract advertising revenue and customers who enjoy the options, Shanks said. "This is the ability of someone watching drama or comedy or sports or a movie -- who sees an interesting product placement -- to pause that experience and go off for a few minutes to learn about the new BMW 7 series, then come back where they left off," Shanks said. He predicts advertisers will crave customer data from those experiences to find out who requested those ads and where they live. Still, some cable and satellite executives say there's reason to proceed cautiously as they experiment with changing a TV medium that Americans have enjoyed passively for decades. "If anything, there should be user settings to turn the advertising off," said Knology's Thompson. "I don't necessarily want something appearing over my 'Sopranos' when I'm watching." |