Ads on the local and network news programs

[fdcg27]

Ever notice that that the local news tends to feature ads for home mechanical contractors and local personal injury lawyers while the network news is heavy with ads for various prescription drugs, in which the invariably upbeat music overlays a list of side effects often including death?
I know that the ambulance chaser ads are less disturbing to me than the direct advertisement of powerful drugs to ordinary folks who are then expected to go and demand that their physicians prescribe these drugs for them.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Ever notice that that the local news tends to feature ads for home mechanical contractors and local personal injury lawyers while the network news is heavy with ads for various prescription drugs, in which the invariably upbeat music overlays a list of side effects often including death?
I know that the ambulance chaser ads are less disturbing to me than the direct advertisement of powerful drugs to ordinary folks who are then expected to go and demand that their physicians prescribe these drugs for them.



After hearing the side effects of some of these drugs-I find it hard to believe people run out and ask their doctor for a prescription. I would think that someone who is already taking a certain drug for a certain condition might ask if the drug they saw on the ad may be a better choice.

 

[mk378]

At the least, they should have to have actors act out the side effects.

Recently the scripts have been softend to say things like "Liver failure has happened" rather than "This drug may cause liver failure."

The USA is the only country where such ads are allowed.

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Ever notice that that the local news tends to feature ads for home mechanical contractors and local personal injury lawyers while the network news is heavy with ads for various prescription drugs, in which the invariably upbeat music overlays a list of side effects often including death?
I know that the ambulance chaser ads are less disturbing to me than the direct advertisement of powerful drugs to ordinary folks who are then expected to go and demand that their physicians prescribe these drugs for them.



After hearing the side effects of some of these drugs-I find it hard to believe people run out and ask their doctor for a prescription. I would think that someone who is already taking a certain drug for a certain condition might ask if the drug they saw on the ad may be a better choice.


You should ask my wife's internist about that. She reports that people come in all of the time demanding that they be prescribed the miracle drug they saw on the TV, even though it may not address their actual problems and may be contraindicated for them.
People don't want to do the hard work involved in maintaining their health. They want a pill to do the work for them.

 

[sleddriver]

Local news ads here are all trucks: Flying through streams, sand, beaches or towing a big boat. Same song, verse 487. Same old, same old....once in awhile it'll be some fast-talking beatnik pushing some deal with the details in mouse print.

Main reason I stopped watching.....

 

[PimTac]

I wa surprised to see so many commercials on the ota television for catheters. You would think 80% of the population is using them.

 

[skyactiv]

Look up the price on drugs being advertised for those without insurance. The price of Humira will shock you.

 

[NYSteve]

TV guy here...

Linear TV ad inventory is broken up by what we call 'avails' across broadcast and cable networks. Assume there are 17minutes of commercials per hour.

For broadcast stations (ABC, NBC, etc) the national network has majority of the inventory, say 15 minutes or 30 commercials per hour. They sell these to national advertisers such as pharma companies or really fortune 500. Since the networks also distribute content they air, they try to sell demographics of a particular show, usually based on age and gender. For local news, it is usually an 55+ skew to the viewers, hence the prevalence of pharma commercials.

The remaining 2minutes (or whatver it actually is) goes to the local broadcast station. They sell to local businesses within the geographic market - HVAC, lawyers, restaurants, etc. That is because the local companies can't afford and also dont want to buy the whole country on ABC, just their ABC station in their market.

There is a similar breakout with the cable networks, except the 2minutes per hour go to the cable/satellite/telco distributor (Comcast, Verizon, Dish, etc). So they have 2min per hour across ~50 or networks every hour. Also why you might see a national Ford Truck commercial on Discovery and also one for Bill's Ford Dealership down the road.

Will answer any questions that I'm allowed to...

PS - I don't create the commercials, flame the creatives for what you see

 

[skyactiv]

Originally Posted By: NYSteve
TV guy here...

Linear TV ad inventory is broken up by what we call 'avails' across broadcast and cable networks. Assume there are 17minutes of commercials per hour.

For broadcast stations (ABC, NBC, etc) the national network has majority of the inventory, say 15 minutes or 30 commercials per hour. They sell these to national advertisers such as pharma companies or really fortune 500. Since the networks also distribute content they air, they try to sell demographics of a particular show, usually based on age and gender. For local news, it is usually an 55+ skew to the viewers, hence the prevalence of pharma commercials.

The remaining 2minutes (or whatver it actually is) goes to the local broadcast station. They sell to local businesses within the geographic market - HVAC, lawyers, restaurants, etc. That is because the local companies can't afford and also dont want to buy the whole country on ABC, just their ABC station in their market.

There is a similar breakout with the cable networks, except the 2minutes per hour go to the cable/satellite/telco distributor (Comcast, Verizon, Dish, etc). So they have 2min per hour across ~50 or networks every hour. Also why you might see a national Ford Truck commercial on Discovery and also one for Bill's Ford Dealership down the road.

Will answer any questions that I'm allowed to...

PS - I don't create the commercials, flame the creatives for what you see

The few times I watched Jerry Springer, most commercials seemed local. Commercials aimed towards the 20 something age bracket that drooped out of high school.

 

[Trav]

Here most of them here are for drugs, ambulance chasers and insurance companies. I do like the mayhem ones though.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Ever notice that that the local news tends to feature ads for home mechanical contractors and local personal injury lawyers
At least two reasons: 1) Why would the local HVAC (?) company advertise nationally ? Lawyers are licensed on a state-by-state basis so most can't practice elsewhere (some hold licenses for more than one state). 2) Neither can afford the cost of a network/national ad.

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
while the network news is heavy with ads for various prescription drugs

Larger audience means more $$$ for them, plus they 'sell' nationwide.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted By: skyactiv
The few times I watched Jerry Springer, most commercials seemed local. Commercials aimed towards the 20 something age bracket that drooped out of high school.


Isn't his show syndicated ? I think that means that local stations/networks can 'buy' broadcast rights, hence 'local' commercials.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

The national / local mix is also dependent on the time of day. Afternoons can have more local ads than prime time (for example).

Rate cards are all over the map, and are dependent on time of day, frequency, and whether you care when they run the ad, or let the station decide. I've bought ads on US stations for $2.00/30second spot when we not only were not in that state, we were in another country. But the local cable feed carried that station.

 

[Andrew1972]

The main age group watching nightly news is 50+ which is target audience for meds. The healthier young people seek alternate sources.

My parents don't like it when I call around 6:30 because they sit down to watch news like its 1982 on our old broadcast TV antenna that picked up one station.