Television Advertisement

A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message. Advertisement revenue provides a significant portion of the funding for most privately owned television networks. The vast majority of television advertisements today consist of brief advertising spots, ranging in length from a few seconds to several minutes. Advertisements of this sort have been used to promote a wide variety of goods, services and ideas since the dawn of television.

The effect of commercial advertisements upon the viewing public has been successful and pervasive.
In many countries, including the United States, television campaign advertisements are considered indispensable for a political campaign. In other countries, such as France, political advertising in television is heavily restricted, and some, like Norway, completely ban it.

History

The first television advertisement was broadcast in the United States on July 1, 1941. The watchmaker Bulova paid $9 for a placement on New York station WNBT before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. The 20-second spot displayed a picture of a clock superimposed on a map of the United States, accompanied by the voice-over "America runs on Bulova time.
The first TV ad broadcast in the UK was on ITV on 21 September 1955, advertising Gibbs SR toothpaste. Until the early 1990s, advertising on television had only been affordable for large companies willing to make a significant investment, but the advent of desktop video allowed many small and local businesses to produce television ads for airing on local cable TV services.

United Kingdom

 

In the UK, the British Broadcasting Corporation is funded by a licence fee and does not screen adverts apart from the promotion of its own future programming. On the commercial channels, the amount of airtime allowed by the UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom for advertising is an overall average of 7 minutes per hour, with limits of 12 minutes for any particular clock hour (8 minutes per hour between 6pm and 11pm). With 42-minute American exports to Britain, such as Lost, being given a one hour slot, nearly one third of the slot is taken up by adverts or trailers for other programs.

The growth of multi-channel television has changed the face of TV advertising making the medium effective for companies with niche products and a targeted audience. 30-second advertisements on digital channels such as Sky News, MTV or E4 can be bought for less than £500000 and adverts on more targeted channels like the Business Channel, Motors TV or Real Estate TV for less than £500 per 30 seconds. New TV channels are launching every week in the UK and advertising opportunities are plentiful.