Ever notice that more and more of the lower third of your TV screen is covered more and more often with some kind of promotional “bug” from the networks? Hold on to your hats, then: some networks are planning to sell that as ad space, according to this article over at trade journal site Broadcasting & Cable.
Thankfully, the issue is not as cut and dried as you might think. Although advertisers are itching to find new ways to sell advertising in a world where 20% of US homes have a DVR (and thus, presumably skip the commercials), it seems that most networks are wary of turning your favorite comedy or drama into a CNN-style hodge-podge of crawlers and obnoxicons. In fact, some TV insiders are against the practice in general, not because it’s “defaming the art of the filmmaker”, but because scientific study has shown that most people cannot process two thoughts at the same time while watching TV. In other words, people either watch the show and ignore the bug, or they watch the bug and ignore the show (either of which is not good for the networks). Also, many at the networks (TBS excepted, apparently) are wary of alienating their dwindling numbers.
All around, it’s some interesting reading. You should check it out.