No one in my family watches TV commercials because there's been a
TiVo in our house for several years. (The fast-forward button is worn way down.) Now, we're adding
Sirius satellite radio service, so we'll be rid of radio commercials; Sirius offers 65 channels of commercial-free music.
As digital video recorders and subscription satellite radio spread to more and more households in the years ahead, this is going to have a profound effect on broadcast advertising, of course. We often talk here about
product placement as one alternative as people watch fewer TV commercials.
But I wonder if there will be another near- to medium-term effect, because DVRs and satellite-radio subscriptions are still luxury items not as likely to be purchased by lower-income families (because of the additional monthly subscription fees). Will conventional broadcast advertising shift -- to more commercials for Wal-Mart and fewer for tony stores, more for inexpensive cars and fewer for Mercedes -- because fewer middle- and upper-income consumers are being reached?
Enter Land of OpportuniTV, a startup comedy about making America...
