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Infomercials are television commercials that run as long as a typical television program. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic A television advertisement or television commercial (often just commercial or advert (US or ad (UK is a span of television programming produced A television program (US television programme (UK or television show (U Infomercials, also known as paid programming (or teleshopping in Europe), are normally shown outside of peak hours, such as daytime or late night/early morning (usually 2:00 a. Prime Time is the major News analysis current affairs and Politics programme broadcast on Radio Telefís Éireann in Ireland m. to 6:00 a. m. ). Some television stations have undertaken to air such programming as an alternative to the former practice of sign-off. Sign-off (or in British/Irish/New Zealand English closedown) is the sequence of operations involved when a radio or Television station shuts down its

While the term "infomercial" was originally applied only to television advertising, it is now sometimes used to refer to any presentation (often on video) which presents a significant amount of information in an actual, or perceived, attempt to persuade to a point of view. Often, it is unclear whether the actual presentation fits this definition because the term is used hoping to dis-credit the presentation. In this way, political speeches may be derogatorily referred to as "infomercials" for a specific point of view.

Contents

Format

The word "infomercial" is a portmanteau of the words "information" and "commercial". Information as a concept has a diversity of meanings from everyday usage to technical settings A television advertisement or television commercial (often just commercial or advert (US or ad (UK is a span of television programming produced As in any other form of advertisement, the content is a commercial message designed to represent the viewpoints and to serve the interest of the sponsor. Infomercials are often made to closely resemble actual television programming, usually talk shows, with minimal acknowledgement that the program is actually an advertisement. A talk show ( American) or chat show ( Global) is a Television or Radio program where one person or group of people come together to

Infomercials are designed to solicit a direct response which is specific and quantifiable and are, therefore, a form of direct response marketing (not to be confused with direct marketing). A quantitative attribute is one that exists in a range of magnitudes and can therefore be measured. Direct response marketing is a form of Marketing designed to solicit a direct response which is specific and quantifiable Direct marketing is a sub-discipline and type of Marketing. There are two main definitional characteristics which distinguish it from other types of marketing The ad response is delivered directly to television viewers by infomercial advertisers through the television ad. In normal commercials, advertisers do not solicit a direct response from viewers, but, instead, brand their product in the market place amongst potential buyers. A brand is a collection of Images and ideas representing an economic producer more specifically it refers to the descriptive verbal attributes and concrete symbols such as a

Infomercial advertisers may make use of flashy catchphrases, repeat basic ideas, and/or employ scientist-like characters or celebrities as guests or hosts in their ad. A catch phrase (or catchphrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance The book As Seen on TV (Quirk Books) by Lou Harry and Sam Stall highlights the history of such memorable products as the Flowbee, the Chia Pet, and Ginsu knives. Lou Harry is an Indianapolis -based writer His novel The High-Impact Infidelity Diet (co-written with Eric Pfeffinger was released in 2005 by Random House/Three The Flowbee is an electric powered vacuum attachment made for cutting hair invented by San Diego Carpenter Rick Hunts in the late 1980s Chia Pets are a brand of collectible Animal Figurines manufactured and originated by the San Francisco California based company Joseph Enterprises The Ginsu knife is a product most famous for the promotional activities that were used to promote it The Flowbee and Ginsu were put on air by infomercial guru Kevin Harrington. The Flowbee is an electric powered vacuum attachment made for cutting hair invented by San Diego Carpenter Rick Hunts in the late 1980s The Ginsu knife is a product most famous for the promotional activities that were used to promote it Many infomercials have limited time offers and/or claim one can only purchase the wares from television, that slightly pressure the viewers into buying their products.

History

During the early days of television, many TV shows were specifically created by sponsors with the main goal of selling their product, with the entertainment value secondary. A good example of this is the early children's show The Magic Clown on NBC, which was created essentially as an advertisement for Bonomo's Turkish Taffy. "The Magic Clown" was a NBC TV series which ran from 1949 to 1954 The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Turkish Taffy was a chewy taffy -like candy bar which came in several flavors [1] Eventually, FCC limits on the amount of advertising that could appear during an hour of television did away with these programs, forcing sponsors into the background.

It is quite possible that the first modern infomercial series which ran in North America was on San Diego-area television station XETV-TV, which during the 1970s ran a one-hour television program every Sunday consisting of advertisements for local homes for sale. XETV, channel 6 is a television station licensed to Tijuana Baja California, Mexico, serving as the CW Television Network affiliate for the As the station was actually licensed by the Mexican government to the city of Tijuana, (but the station broadcasts all of its programs in English for the U. Tijuana (ˌtiːəˈwɑːnə Spanish, ti'xwana|ti'ʍana is the largest city of the Mexican state of Baja California, situated on the U S. market), the FCC limit at that time of a maximum of 18 minutes of commercials in an hour did not apply to the station.

Infomercials proliferated in the United States after 1984 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) eliminated regulations on the commercial content of television established in the 1950s and 1960s. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Much of their early development can be attributed to business partners Edward Valenti and Barry Beecher, who developed the format to sell the Ginsu Knife. Ed Valenti is one of two marketing experts (his then partner Barry Becher being the other credited with the formation of the Infomercial, or "long-form" (two-minute The Ginsu knife is a product most famous for the promotional activities that were used to promote it

In Britain, teleshopping was pioneered in 1979 by Michael Aldrich who demonstrated real-time transaction processing from a domestic television and subsequently installed many systems throughout the UK in the 1980s. [2].

Some televangelists such as Robert Tilton and Peter Popoff buy television time from infomercial brokers representing TV stations around the U. Televangelism is the use of Television to communicate the Christian faith Robert Tilton (born June 7, 1946) is an American Televangelist who achieved notoriety in the 1980s and early 1990s through his paid Television Peter Popoff (born July 2, 1946) is a German -born US Televangelist known as a Faith healer. S. and even some mass-distributed cable networks that are not averse to carrying religious programming. Religious broadcasting is Broadcasting by religious organizations usually with a religious message A block of such programming appears weekdays on BET under the umbrella title BET Inspiration. A wheel series is a term applied in the broadcast Television industry to a television program in which two or more regular series are rotated with the same time slot

Infomercials are often screened in the United States and Canada during late-night/early morning hours, although midday and prime time airings are not unheard of. Prime Time is the major News analysis current affairs and Politics programme broadcast on Radio Telefís Éireann in Ireland There are also entire networks devoted to just airing infomercials all day and night for the sole purpose of cable/satellite providers receiving revenue from the channel operator from any sales for their area, or to fill empty time on local programming channels. CNBC, which airs only one hour of infomercials nightly during the business week, airs up to 28 hours of infomercials on Saturdays and Sundays during the time where the network's business news coverage otherwise airs. CNBC (an abbreviation for the " C onsumer N ews and B usiness C hannel" its official name until 1991 is a cable and A comparison of television listings from 2007 with 1987 verifies that many broadcasters in North America now air infomercials in lieu of syndicated TV series reruns and movies, which were formerly staples during the more common hours infomercials are broadcast (i. In Broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast Radio shows and Television shows to multiple individual stations without going through e. , the overnight hours). Infomercials are a near-permanent staple of ION Television's daytime and overnight schedules. Ion Television is a broadcast television network first broadcast on August 31 1998

The first feature length documentary to chronicle the history of the infomercial was Pitch People. Pitch People is the first feature length documentary film to take a close look at the fascinating role the art of the "pitch" has played in society

Criticism

Because of the sometimes sensational nature of the ad form and the questionable nature of some products, consumer advocates recommend careful investigation of the infomercial's sponsor, the product being advertised, and the claims being made before making a purchase. Consumer protection is a form of Government Regulation which protects the interests of Consumers For example a government may require businesses to disclose detailed At the beginning of an infomercial, stations and/or sponsors normally run disclaimers warning that "the following program is a paid advertisement," and that the station does not necessarily support the sponsor's claims. (See "External Links" for two such examples. ) A few stations take the warning further, encouraging viewers to contact their local Better Business Bureau or state or local consumer protection agency to report any questionable products or claims that air on such infomercials. The Better Business Bureau (BBB, founded in 1912 is an organization based in the United States and Canada.

Widely used pitches

Parodies

The Infomercial format has been widely parodied. One example was a skit in the cartoon series Tiny Toon Adventures in which an infomercial hostess is trying to sell a clothesline for $39. Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures (also known as Tiny Toon Adventures or Tiny Toons) is an American 95, but has to include additional offers to try and justify the high price. Another example could be found in the Garfield and Friends episode, "Dream Giveaway", in which Garfield dreams of attempting to give away Nermal in an infomercial, but no one wants to take him. Garfield and Friends is an American Animated television series based on Comic strip Garfield by Jim Davis. Garfield is a daily-syndicated Comic strip created by Jim Davis. Yet another example can be found in The Lion King 1 1/2 when Pumbaa sits on the remote in mid-movie and the screen switches to a jewelry infomercial (QVC). The Lion King 1½ (also known as The Lion King 3 Hakuna Matata in some countries is an American Direct-to-video Timon and Pumbaa are a fictional Meerkat and Warthog duo first introduced in Disney 's popular 1994 animated film The Lion King Jewellery (also spelled jewelry, see spelling differences) is a personal Ornament, such as a necklace ring or bracelet made from Gemstones QVC is a West Chester Pennsylvania, USA, multinational corporation specializing in televised home shopping. Quebec-based Têtes à Claques has produced several Informercial parodies in French. Têtes à claques is a French-language humour website created on August 16 2006.

Additional notes

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Fifty years of candy: consolidation, clowns and confidence. Candy Industry, August 1, 1994
  2. ^ ‘Checking on the check-outs’ Financial Times London 12 July 1980. Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand An advertorial is an Advertisement written in the form of an objective opinion Editorial, and presented in a printed publication — usually designed to Brokered programming (also known as time-buy) is broadcast content where the show's producer pays for air time rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity Direct Response Television, or DRTV for short includes any TV advertising that asks consumers to respond directly to the company --- usually either by calling an 800 number In popular usage "marketing" is the promotion of products especially Advertising and Branding However in professional usage the term has a wider meaning of Sponsored film, or ephemeral film, as defined by film archivist Rick Prelinger, is film made by a particular sponsor for a specific purpose other than as a work of A television advertisement or television commercial (often just commercial or advert (US or ad (UK is a span of television programming produced

External links

Dictionary

infomercial

-noun

  1. An especially long television commercial, typically between thirty minutes and one hour long, that is usually sold as a block to advertisers late at night to fund the operations of a television network.
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