Commercials and Advertisements
A television advertisement (Ad, Commercial) is a short promotional video/sound played before a feature production such as music, TV or Film. The most common type of ad is seen on television and each is relevant to the channel/film that it is played before. For example if watching a children's channel (young audiences), the advertisements would be of toys and other similar television shows. If one is watching a late night show (older audiences) the advertisements would be aimed at adults, so would therefore include cars, clothing, sex or dating related ad's, housing or other adult television shows.
All television advertisements are paid promotions from company's looking to promote an item, brand or related content to what is being watched. Ads can also be used to inform the public, for example when the government informs us about Covid19 announcements. Other examples include fundraisers for charities such as Cancer Research. Adverts are the biggest source of income for the majority of privately owned TV studios and provides a huge audience reach for those companies promoting. During the 2010's, the number television commercials has increased but to keep the attention of the audience have shortened in length.
The first paid advertisement came out on July 1st 1945 on an American TV channel before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies. The first UK advert appeared on ITV in 1955 advertising Gibbs SR toothpaste. The first ad in Asia first appeared on Nippon Television in Tokyo, on August 28th 1953 advertising Seikosha. Since these dates television advertising has become huge and regular in day to day lives. in 2018 it was estimated that for the USA spending on TV advertising surpassed $69.87 billion US Dollars.
All television advertisements are paid promotions from company's looking to promote an item, brand or related content to what is being watched. Ads can also be used to inform the public, for example when the government informs us about Covid19 announcements. Other examples include fundraisers for charities such as Cancer Research. Adverts are the biggest source of income for the majority of privately owned TV studios and provides a huge audience reach for those companies promoting. During the 2010's, the number television commercials has increased but to keep the attention of the audience have shortened in length.
The first paid advertisement came out on July 1st 1945 on an American TV channel before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies. The first UK advert appeared on ITV in 1955 advertising Gibbs SR toothpaste. The first ad in Asia first appeared on Nippon Television in Tokyo, on August 28th 1953 advertising Seikosha. Since these dates television advertising has become huge and regular in day to day lives. in 2018 it was estimated that for the USA spending on TV advertising surpassed $69.87 billion US Dollars.
Advantages and Disadvantages
PROS- Reaches a very wide audience, can create a long lasting impression or memory on a viewer. For example catchy ads such as the Cadbury gorilla playing the drums- everyone knows it and promoted the exciting company. Television adverts have a long history and reputation for drawing in very large audiences. Television is watched each day by hundreds of millions of people, of all different ages, races, genders and backgrounds so what better way of promoting your business than on national television for millions to see. With this being said, think about your audience, time of day it will be shown etc. If your audience is of an older age, create an older ad and pitch to TV channels that will play it to the correct audience. The same applies for a young audience.
CONS- Not on television forever and can become outdated. Very costly and if not executed properly can be a waste of money and will not stick in the audiences mind or draw them in. In addition to the cost of putting an ad on television the adverts themselves are costly both in production and time. Most advertisements include a range of VFX or animated elements mixed with real life camera shot scenes, combined take a long time to create and need a team of workers to do so. When created an advert there is no room for error. The smallest of mistakes can be costly and result in a huge loss of money and time, especially if the ad needs to be reworked or filmed. When created these adverts, ensure you have a clear idea as to what your end product is and that from the start you have a clear end goal.
CONS- Not on television forever and can become outdated. Very costly and if not executed properly can be a waste of money and will not stick in the audiences mind or draw them in. In addition to the cost of putting an ad on television the adverts themselves are costly both in production and time. Most advertisements include a range of VFX or animated elements mixed with real life camera shot scenes, combined take a long time to create and need a team of workers to do so. When created an advert there is no room for error. The smallest of mistakes can be costly and result in a huge loss of money and time, especially if the ad needs to be reworked or filmed. When created these adverts, ensure you have a clear idea as to what your end product is and that from the start you have a clear end goal.
Channel Idents
Channel idents have been played in our everyday lives since the 1950's. Channel Idents are a series of animations, titles or visual sequences that play before an episode to tell viewers about what is coming next. This could be if the next programme is explicit or to tell the audience a hint as to what will happen. Idents can also be intros or logo animations like the Netflix opening logo.
Idents over the years have become increasingly more interesting and creative. Starting out as black and white screens with plain channel logos on to now interact moving logos or imagery to reflect the channel or programme you are about to watch. Children's channel idents tend to be more wacky, colourful and fun and include your favourite characters, then a sci fi channel ident would be darker and creepier. Idents are suited to the channel they are watching and are themed to the main audience of that chennel, for example... a crime channel would play clips that could be criminal or eery and as above a channel that plays a lot of The Simpsons would have a creative ident that displays that show and explains that episode, giving the audience the chance to build a television connection with the voice behind the description. The speaking is designed so it sounds like they are watching along with you and enjoying your favourite show.
The Purpose Of Channel Idents
To inform viewers about the content of a program e.g. (swearing or nudity), Introduce programmes and fill time in scheduling, Grabbing the viewers attention by showing the brand, Identifying a television show, Free advertising- reminds the viewer which channel they’re watching, Promoting the channel and other programmes that are going to be shown, Showing different indents for different times of day e.g. since indents would only be showed early hours in the morning or very late at night and to warn viewers about flashing lights during the show