Infomercials are long-format television Television is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic ("black and white") or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission. The word is derived from mixed Latin commercials A television advertisement or television commercial – often just commercial or TV ad , or advert or ad (UK/US), or ad-film (India) – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organisation that conveys a message. Advertisement revenue provides a significant portion of the funding for most privately owned television, typically one minute or longer.[1][2][3] Infomercials are also known as paid programming (or teleshopping in Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains (or the Kuma-Manych Depression), and the Black Sea to the southeast. Europe is bordered). This phenomenon started in the United States where infomercials were typically shown overnight (usually 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.)--outside of peak hours Prime time is the daypart with the most viewers and is generally where television networks and local stations reap much of their advertising revenues. The Nielsen ratings system is explicitly designed for the optimum measurement of audience viewership by dayparts with prime time being of most interest. Most people tend to watch television at prime. Some television stations chose to air infomercials as an alternative to the former practice of sign-off Sign-off is the sequence of operations involved when a radio or television station shuts down its transmitters and goes off the air for a predetermined period (most commonly during the overnight hours). Sign-off is the reverse process to a broadcast sign-on. By 2009, most US infomercial spending is during early morning, daytime, and evening hours. Stations in most countries around the world have instituted similar media structures. According to tapebeat.com, over $150 billion of consumer products in the U.S. are sold through infomercials.

There are two types of infomercials formats. "Long Form" infomercials, which are typically 28 minutes and 30 seconds in length and "Short Form" infomercials, which are typically 1 to 2 minutes in length. To qualify to be an infomercial, a phone number and/or web URL must appear on screen so that people can order "Direct" from TV. This is why another term for infomercial advertising is "DirectTV" or "DRTV" as it is most commonly known. Note that in the US market, a small amount of media can be purchased for 5 minute length advertisements, although this time is quite limited. Outside of the US market, lengths depend on the lengths allowed by television stations and government regulators.

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. When used this way, the term may be meant to carry an implication that the party making the communication is exaggerating truths or hiding important facts. Often, it is unclear whether the actual presentation fits this definition because the term is used in an attempt 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 A portmanteau (pronounced /pɔrtmænˈtoʊ/ ) or portmanteau word is used broadly to mean a blend of two (or more) words or morphemes and their meanings into one new word, and narrowly in linguistics fields to mean only a blend of two or more function words of the words "information Information as a concept has many meanings, from everyday usage to technical settings. The concept of information is closely related to notions of constraint, communication, control, data, form, instruction, knowledge, meaning, mental stimulus, pattern, perception, and representation. In its most restricted technical meaning, information is an" and "commercial A television advertisement or television commercial – often just commercial or TV ad , or advert or ad (UK/US), or ad-film (India) – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organisation that conveys a message. Advertisement revenue provides a significant portion of the funding for most privately owned television". 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. Some imitate talk shows A talk show or chat show (British) is a television or radio program where one person (or group of people) will discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host. Sometimes, talk shows feature a panel of guests, usually consisting of a group of people who are learned or who have great experience in relation to whatever issue is being discussed and try to downplay the fact that the program is actually an advertisement. A few are developed around storylines and have been called "storymercials". However most do not have specific formats but craft different elements to create what they hope is a compelling story about the product offered.

Infomercials are designed to solicit a direct response which is specific and quantifiable A quantitative attribute is one that exists in a range of magnitudes, and can therefore be measured. Measurements of any particular quantitative property are expressed as a specific quantity, referred to as a unit, multiplied by a number. Examples of physical quantities are distance, mass, and time. Many attributes in the social sciences, and are, therefore, a form of direct response marketing Direct-response marketing is a form of marketing designed to solicit a direct response which is specific and quantifiable. The delivery of the response is direct between the viewer and the advertiser, that is, the customer responds to the marketer directly. This is in contrast to direct marketing in which the marketer contacts the potential (not to be confused with direct marketing 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 first is that it attempts to send its messages directly to consumers, without the use of intervening media. This involves commercial communication with consumers or businesses. The). For this reason, infomercials generally feature between 2 and 4 internal commercials of 30 to 120 seconds in length which invite the consumer to call or take other direct action. Despite the overt request for direct action, many consumers respond to the messages in an infomercial with purchases at retail outlets. For many infomercials, the largest portion of positive response they aim for is retail sales. These retail sales make infomercials similar in impact to traditional commercials where advertisers do not solicit a direct response from viewers, but create the commercials with a goal to leave behind messages and brand A brand is a name used to identify and distinguish a specific product, service, or business.[page needed] A legally protected brand name is called a proprietary name that the advertisers hope will lead people to purchase their product or increase acceptance of the product.

Many traditional Infomercial producers make use of flashy catchphrases A catch phrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media (such as literature and publishing, motion pictures, television and radio), as well as word of mouth. Some catch phrases become the de facto ", repeat basic ideas, and/or employ scientist-like characters or celebrities as guests or hosts in their ad. The book As Seen on TV (Quirk Books) by Lou Harry and Sam Stall highlights the history of products as the Flowbee The Flowbee is an electric powered vacuum attachment made for cutting hair invented by San Diego carpenter Rick Hunts in the late 1980s. The product is touted as being capable of performing "hundreds of precision layered haircuts" and was frequently displayed on late-night television infomercials, the Chia Pet, and Ginsu The Ginsu knife is a product most famous for the activities that were used to promote it. It was made famous through a series of long-form advertisements in the 1970s, paving the way for the modern day infomercial with its use of quirky catchphrases, comical quips, and urgent call to action, including the phrase "how much would you pay...don' knives. Sometimes traditional infomercials use limited time offers and/or claim one can only purchase the wares from television to add pressure for viewers buy their products. The products frequently marketed through infomericals include cleaning products, appliances, food, dietary supplements, alternative health In Western culture, alternative medicine is any healing practice "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine", or "that which has not been shown consistently to be effective." Alternative medicine is often based on the belief that a particular health regimen has efficacious effects even while there exists aids, memory improvement courses, books, recorded music, videos, real estate investment strategies, beauty supplies, baldness remedies, sexual enhancement supplements, weight loss products, personal fitness devices, home exercise machines.

Major brands (e.g. Apple [4], Microsoft, Thermos-Grill2Go [5]) have used infomercials for their ability to communicate more complicated and in-depth product stories. This practice started in the early 1990s and has increased since. Brands generally eschew the "cheesy" trappings of the traditional infomercial business in order to create communication they believe creates a better image of their products, their brands, and their consumers.

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 "The Magic Clown" was a NBC TV series which ran from 1949 to 1954. The final NBC broadcast was on June 27, 1954. The show then moved to WABD where it stayed until 1958. After that, It was renamed "Bonamo, The Magic Clown" and was broadcast on WNTA from September 29, 1958 to July 24, 1959. The show was sponsored by Bonomo on NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank, California. It is sometimes referred to as the Peacock Network due to its stylized peacock logo, created originally for color broadcasts, which was created essentially as an advertisement for Bonomo's Turkish Taffy.[6] It is claimed that the first informercial for a commercial product appeared in 1949 or 1950, for a blender A blender is a kitchen appliance used to mix ingredients or puree food. Blenders are also used to prepare emulsions, such as mayonnaise, and cream soups. Blenders are to be distinguished from lower-speed hand-powered or electric mixers that are used for mixing applications. The term typically refers to a stationary, upright electrical device, but. Accounts vary on whether this was for a VitaMix blender as claimed by Vitamix or from Waring Blenders as claimed in various online sources. 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; however, few infomercials, mainly those for greatest hits record sets and Shop Smith power tools, did exist during the period when commercial time was restricted.[citation needed]

It is quite possible that the first modern infomercial series which ran in North America was on San Diego San Diego , named after Saint Didacus (Spanish: Diego de Alcalá), is the second-largest city in California and the ninth largest city in the United States, located along the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the city's population is 1,279,329 as of 2008. This coastal city is also the-area television station XETV XETV, analog channel 6 and digital channel 23, is a television station licensed to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, serving as the CW Television Network affiliate for the San Diego, California area across the international border in the United States. XETV's studios and offices are located on Ronson Road in San Diego, and its transmitter is based, which during the 1970s ran a one-hour television program every Sunday consisting of advertisements for local homes for sale. As the station was actually licensed by the Mexican government to the city of Tijuana Tijuana , is the largest city of the Mexican state of Baja California, situated on the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to its sister city of San Diego, California. Tijuana is the westernmost city in Mexico, however, the westernmost population center is located in Isla Guadalupe. Tijuana is considered by the Mexican government to be the most dominant, (but the station broadcasts all of its programs in English for 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 ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language after 1984 when the Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, directed, and empowered by Congressional statute (see 47 U.S.C. § 151 and 47 U.S.C. § 154), and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, (FCC) eliminated regulations that were established in the 1950s and 1960s to govern the commercial content of television.[citation needed]. Informercials particularly exploded in the mid-1990's with motivational products, personal development Personal development refers to individual self-development, development of others and personal development programs, tools and methods. At the level of individuals personal development includes goals, plans or actions oriented towards one or more of the following aims: products, and infamous "get-rich-quick scheme A get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to acquire high rates of return for a small investment. Most such schemes promise that participants can obtain this high rate of return with little risk"s based on the premise that one could quickly become wealthy by either selling anything through classified ads or through real estate flipping Flipping is a term used primarily in the United States to describe practice of buying an asset and quickly reselling it for profit. Though flipping can apply to any asset, the term is most often applied to real estate and initial public offerings. The term is used in the United Kingdom to describe a technique whereby a Member of Parliament. These were hawked by personalities such as Don Lapre and Carleton H. Sheets, among others.

In Britain, 'teleshopping' was defined in 1979 by Michael Aldrich Michael Aldrich is an English inventor, innovator and entrepreneur credited with inventing Online shopping, the Teleputer and influencing the development of interactive local loop cable television in the UK who invented real-time transaction processing from a domestic television, called it 'teleshopping', and subsequently installed many 'teleshopping' systems throughout the UK in the 1980s.[7]. In the 1990s the UK started to use US terminology as infomercials began on satellite television and they became known as teleshopping channels while the original British 'teleshopping' became online shopping Online shopping is the process consumers go through to purchase products or services over the Internet. An online shop, eshop, e-store, internet shop, webshop, webstore, online store, or virtual store evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services at a bricks-and-mortar retailer or in a shopping mall.[8] The UK permits neither paid infomercials nor teleshopping on mainstream network television. Political infomercials known as 'Party Political Broadcasts' are allocated to political parties according to a formula approved by Parliament and are available only on mainstream radio/network television, are strictly limited and are free of charge. Political parties or politically-motivated interest groups cannot buy advertising on UK TV. There is no prescription drug advertising because, with the single provider health system in the UK, there is only a single buyer for the whole country. TV auto advertising is done by manufacturers not dealers. There are no televangelists.

Some US televangelists Televangelism is the use of television to communicate the Christian faith. The word is a portmanteau of television and evangelism and was coined by Time magazine. A televangelist is a Christian minister who devotes a large portion of his or her ministry to television broadcasting. The term is also used derisively by critics as an insinuation of such as Robert Tilton Robert Tilton is an American televangelist who achieved notoriety in the 1980s and early 1990s through his paid television program Success-N-Life. At its peak it aired in all 235 American TV markets. At the time the first investigations into Tilton's ministry occurred in 1991, his television ministry was airing daily in many of those 235 markets and Peter Popoff Peter Popoff is a German-born American Christian minister and televangelist. He claims to be a faith healer, and performs revival meetings on national television which include laying on of hands. His ministry is based in Upland, California, and is funded through donations. A widely popular minister in the 1980s, he went bankrupt in 1987 after buy television time from infomercial brokers representing TV stations around the U.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. In the United States, Christian organizations are by far the most widespread compared with other religions, with upwards of 1,600 television and radio stations across the country . Many religious organizations have long recorded content such as. A block of such programming appears weekdays on BET Black Entertainment Television is an American cable network based in Washington D.C., and targets young African-American audiences. Robert L. Johnson founded the network in 1980. Most programming of the network comprises mainstream rap and R&B music videos and urban-oriented movies and series under the umbrella title 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. Sometimes the wheel series is given its own umbrella title and promoted as a single unit instead of promoting its separate components BET Inspiration. Politicians are also known to buy infomercial-length time blocks, as detailed below.

When they first appeared, infomercials were most often screened in the United States and Canada during late-night/early morning hours. As stations have found value in airing at other times, by 2008 a large portion of infomercial spending is early morning, daytime, early prime and even prime time Prime time is the daypart with the most viewers and is generally where television networks and local stations reap much of their advertising revenues. The Nielsen ratings system is explicitly designed for the optimum measurement of audience viewership by dayparts with prime time being of most interest. Most people tend to watch television at prime. 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 CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBC Universal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers around the world. In 2007, the network was ranked as, 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. A comparison of television listings from 2007 with 1987 verifies that many broadcasters in North America now air infomercials in lieu of syndicated In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows to multiple individual stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in countries where television is scheduled by networks with local affiliates, particularly in the United States. In the rest of the world, however, most TV series reruns and movies, which were formerly staples during the more common hours infomercials are broadcast (i.e., the overnight hours). Infomercials are a near-permanent staple of ION Television Ion Television is a television network which first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998. The network is owned by ION Media Networks . As of 2009[update], the network was reportedly viewable in over 94 million homes in the U.S. through its television station group, as well as cable and satellite distribution. The network has 94 affiliate stations's daytime and overnight schedules; multichannel providers such as DirecTV DirecTV is a direct broadcast satellite service based in El Segundo, California, which transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States. Its primary competitors are Dish Network and cable providers. DirecTV currently has 18 million subscribers. The service was launched on June 17, 1994 and is now owned by The have objected in the past to carrying ION feeds which consist largely of paid programming[9].

During the current financial crisis, many struggling individual television stations have devoted more of their programming schedules to infomercials and have reduced syndication contracts for regular programming. These stations have found that the revenue from infomercial time sales were higher than the revenues possible through the traditional television advertising and syndication sales options.

An example of a synopsis of an infomercial within an electronic program guide An electronic program guide is typically associated only with television and consists of a digitally-displayed, non-interactive menu of program scheduling information shown by a cable or satellite TV provider to its subscribers on a dedicated channel. EPGs are broadcast by specialized video generation equipment housed within each such provider's (in this case, an infomercial about colon detox on The Travel Channel, from Charter Communications Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 5.7 million customers in 29 states. It is the third-largest cable operator in the U.S., behind Comcast and Time Warner Cable. It is headquartered in Town and Country, Missouri); guidelines which previously excluded specific program information for an infomercial have been relaxed by guide providers in the last few years

A feature length documentary that chronicles the history of the infomercial is 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. It was produced in 1999 and includes interviews with many of the pitch industry's greatest salesmen, including Arnold Morris, Sandy Mason, Lester Morris, Wally Nash and Ed McMahon as well as.

In 2008[citation needed], Tribune Media Services The company is divided into two divisions, "News and Features" and "Entertainment Products". TMS syndicates, both in print and via the web, a number of media products in a variety of languages, such as news, comic strips, television listings, and other information services to publications across the United States, Canada, and and Gemstar-TV Guide Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. was a media company that licensed interactive program guide technology to multichannel operators, such as cable and satellite television providers, and consumer electronics manufacturers, video recorder scheduling code under brands such as VCR Plus, published TV Guide magazine, distributed TV Guide Network and began to relax the guidelines for listing infomercials within their electronic program guide An electronic program guide is typically associated only with television and consists of a digitally-displayed, non-interactive menu of program scheduling information shown by a cable or satellite TV provider to its subscribers on a dedicated channel. EPGs are broadcast by specialized video generation equipment housed within each such provider's listings. Previously all infomercials were listed under the title "Paid Programming" (except for exceptions listed below), but now infomercial producers are allowed to submit a title and limited synopsis (phone numbers/websites to order a product/service seem to be disallowed) of the program's content to the listings providers.

The Fox Broadcasting Company Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as simply Fox, is an American television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, from 2004 to 2009 Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the 18–49 demographic. In the 2007–08 season, Fox became the most popular announced that beginning in January 2009, all of its Saturday morning cartoon A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming which was typically scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the 1990s. In the United States, the generally accepted times considered to be Saturday mornings are 8 a.m. to noon Eastern. In addition, until the programming would be cancelled due to a compensation/distribution dispute with provider 4Kids Entertainment 4Kids Entertainment (commonly known as 4Kids) is a Worldwide International American film and television production company and it was claimed to be one of the world's largest distributors in children's television. It is known for English-dubbing Japanese anime, specializing in the acquisition, production and licensing of children's entertainment, which was replaced by a two-hour block of infomercials, Weekend Marketplace.[10] This made Fox the first major network (excluding borderline Ion Television) to carry a schedule of paid programming. However, many local stations already utilize Saturday morning slots to air locally-programmed paid programming or programs such as Video Car Lot, which features one dealer presenting their current selection of pre-owned vehicles to encourage customers to visit their lot, or "home tour" programming where a home builder records a tour of a model home to entice homebuyers to purchase a plot in their subdivisions. Some stations opted to use the extra time on Saturday morning for E/I programming, with infomercials relegated to before or after the block, or even limited to afternoons, if local newscasts are shown earlier.

Criticism and legal issues

In the United States, 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[11], the product being advertised, and the claims being made before making a purchase. 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. Some channels, such as CNBC, include a "paid programming" bug in a corner of the screen during the duration of each infomercial on that channel.

The FTC requires that any infomercial 15 minutes or longer must disclose to viewers that it is a paid advertisement. An infomercial is required to be "clearly and conspicuously" marked as a "paid advertisement for [particular product or service], sponsored by [sponsor]" at the beginning and end of the advertisement and before ordering instructions are displayed.[12]

Considerable FTC scrutiny is also given to results claims like those in diet/weight loss advertisements. They especially focus on the gray areas surrounding claims stated by "testimonials" because the producer's choice to include a specific testimonial is an action as intentional as writing a scripted claim. The rules controlling endorsements are modified from time to time to increase consumer protection and fill loop holes.[13] Industry organizations like the Electronic Retailing Association, who represents infomercial marketers, often try to minimize the impact of these rule changes.[14]

Since the 1990's, federal and/or state consumer protection agencies have either successfully sued or been critical of several prominent informercial pitchmen, including Kevin Trudeau, Donald Barrett, and Matthew Lesko.

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 $39.95, but has to include additional offers to try to 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. In the 2003 live-action film The Cat in the Hat, the cat performs an entire talkshow-style infomercial spoof for a magical (but disastrous) cupcake maker. In the spoof, the Cat plays the roles of host and guest/expert. 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). Quebec-based Têtes à Claques has produced several Informercial parodies in French. The comedy duo Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim have produced several infomercial parody segments that are showcased on their oddball comedy show Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, notably one for a CD-ROM-based version of the internet called the "Innernette". It employs many of the cliched infomercial hallmarks and phrases such as enthausiastic demonstrations, and outlandish claims of user satisfaction.

"Weird Al" Yankovic parodied infomercials in the song Mr. Popeil, a homage to inventor and infomercial spokesperson Ron Popeil, on his 1984 album "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D (Popeil himself used the song in some of his infomercials). Well known pitchmen like Popeil and Billy Mays have been the inspiration for many of these paradoies. An well known early parody on TV was Saturday Night Live's "Bassomatic" skit featuring Dan Ackroyd in the 1970s.[15]

Other uses and definitions

Political Infomercials

In the United States the strategy of buying prime-time programming slots on major networks has been utilized by political candidates for both presidential and state office to present infomercial-like programs to sell a candidate's merits to the public. Fringe presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche regularly bought time on CBS and local stations in the 1980s. In the 1990s Ross Perot also bought network time in 1992 and 1996 to present his presidential policies to the public. The National Rifle Association has also aired programs via paid programming time to present their views on issues such as gun control and other issues while appealing to the public to join their organization.

2008 Presidential Campaign Use

Hillary Clinton bought an hour of primetime on the Hallmark Channel in 2008 before Super Tuesday, and on cable sports network FSN Southwest in Texas before that state's primary to present a town hall-like program. Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign has used infomercials extensively. His campaign established the Obama channel on satellite TV networks throughout the campaign season. And, a week before the 2008 general election presidential candidate Barack Obama bought a 30 minute slot at 8 PM ET/PT during primetime on seven major networks (NBC, CBS, MSNBC, Fox, BET, TV One and Univision (with Spanish subtitles) to present a "closing argument" to his campaign. The combination of these networks reportedly drew a peak audience of over 33 million viewers of this half hour program, making it the single most watched infomercial broadcast in the history of U.S. television [1].

Children's programming

Although not meeting the definition of an infomercial per se, animated children's programming in the 1980s and early 1990s, which included half-hour animated series for franchises such as Transformers, My Little Pony, Go-Bots and Bravestarr were often described by media experts and parents derisive of these types of series as the equivalent of infomercials, as they also sold the tie-in toy lines and food products for the shows within commercials. The Children's Television Act of 1990 was instrumental in ending this practice and setting commercial limits. Currently, any advertisement for a tie-in product within the show is considered a violation of the FCC rules and is considered a "program length commercial" by their standards, putting the station at risk of paying large fines for violations. These regulations do not apply to cable networks.

Infomercial companies

Traditional infomercial marketers source the products, pay to develop the infomercials, pay for the media, and are responsible for all sales of the product. Sometimes, they sell products they source from inventors.

There is also a well developed network of suppliers to the infomercial industry. These suppliers generally choose to focus on either traditional infomercials (hard sell approaches) or on using infomercials as advertising/sales channels for brand companies (branded approaches). In the traditional business, services are usually supplied by infomercial producers or by media buying companies. In the brand infomercial business, services are often provided by full service agencies who deliver strategy, creative, production, media, and campaign services.

Use of infomercials around the world

The infomercial industry was started in the United States and that has led to the specific definitions of infomercials as direct response television commercials of specific lengths (:30, :60, :120 seconds; 5 minutes; or 28 minutes and 30 seconds). Infomercials have spread to other countries from the US. However, the term "infomercial" needs to be defined more universally to discuss use in all countries. In general, worldwide use of the term refers to a television commercial (paid programming) that offers product for direct sale to consumer via response through the web, by phone, or by mail.

There are few structures that apply everywhere in the international infomercial business. The regulatory environment in each country as well as that country's television traditions have led to variations in format, lengths, and rules for long form commercials and television commercials selling direct to consumer. For example, in the early 1990s long form paid programming in Canada was required to consist only of photographs without moving video. (This restriction no longer exists).

Many products which started in the US have been taken into international distribution on television. And, each country has local entrepreneurs and marketers using the medium for local businesses. What may be called infomercials are most commonly found in North and South America, Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, and Southeast Asia.

In many countries, the infrastructure of direct response television distributors, telemarketing companies and product fulfillment companies (shipping, customer service) are more difficult and these missing pieces have limited the spread of the infomercial.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/infomercial.html
  2. ^ http://www.yourdictionary.com/infomercial
  3. ^ http://definitions.uslegal.com/a/advertising-media-infomercials/
  4. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2004-10-24-infomercial-timeline_x.htm
  5. ^ Rudnick, Michael. Char-Broil's First DRTV Effort Gets Grill Sales Sizzling DMNews. 16 May 2001.
  6. ^ Fifty years of candy: consolidation, clowns and confidence. Candy Industry, August 1, 1994
  7. ^ ‘Checking on the check-outs’ Financial Times London 12 July 1980.
  8. ^ The Inventor's Story, Pioneers of Online Shopping, Aldrich Archive, University of Brighton www.aldricharchive.com
  9. ^ DirecTV.com: PAX
  10. ^ http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996360.html?categoryid=14&cs=1
  11. ^ http://www.allbusiness.com/crime-law/criminal-offenses-cybercrime/5968871-1.html
  12. ^ Knowles, Jeffrey (October 1, 1996). "The Role of Advertising in the Age of Electronic Retailing". Venable LLP. http://www.venable.com/publications.cfm?action=view&publication_id=912&publication_type_id=2. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
  13. ^ "FTC Announcement Requesting Comments on Changes". http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/11/endorsements.sht.
  14. ^ "ERA Posting on 2008-2009 Rules Changes". http://www.electronicretailerblog.com/electronic-retailer/only-you-can-prevent-changes-to-endorsements-and-testimonials/. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  15. ^ l accessdate=2009-04-16 "Bassomatic Transcript". http://snltranscripts.jt.org/75/75qbassamatic.phtm l accessdate=2009-04-16.

External links

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