ad:tech panel highlights what consumers want from next-gen TV and how advertisers can play a part.

Television is clearly not dead, as many predicted it would be in a few years. It's just in a mid-life crisis.

Wanting to be like interactive digital platforms, it is striving to be consumed anytime, anywhere and on any device. Strategies are being finalized, and experimental executions are getting positive results.

But what is the real potential?

The "TV 2.0 Overview" panel on Friday strove to answer this question by focusing on viewer habits and demands, new forms of programming and distribution and advertising opportunities.
 
Viewer habits and desires
First, Peter Storck, president and founder of Points North Group, walked through next-generation ways of consuming television. "Interest in TV convergence is growing strong," he said.

When his research group asked consumers what functions they wanted on their televisions, 33 percent replied that they wanted PC features. Of the various internet activities, downloading content was the most desired among respondents--  32 percent said they would use this function if it were available on their television sets. A whopping 42 percent of consumers are interested in interacting with programming using the remote control, and 34 percent said they would purchase programs before they air on TV.

Video on demand's potential penetration (defined as people interested plus those who already have used it) is 26 percent, while DVR's potential penetration is 44 percent. Of those who own a DVR, 46 percent said avoiding commercials is important, while 58 percent said the ease of recording is important.

Although television on cellphones gets a lot of hype these days, most consumers say that they don't want to watch it. Why? Thirty-five percent said screens are too small, 30 percent said they are not interested in available content and 25 percent said the price is too high.

When asked if they would rather pay for programs or tolerate advertising, 62 percent of respondents said they would watch ads, 17 percent said they would pay and the rest said they weren't sure.

Programming and distribution
"TV is expanding into new platforms in order to avoid the problems that the music industry faced," said Daisy Whitney, contributing writer at TV Week, an Advertising Age and Media Magazine. "Executives are experimenting now so that they don't look back in five years and wish they'd jumped on opportunities."

New networks like Atom Films and YouTube are threatening old ones. Young consumers are forcing television to adapt to their favorite habits. Programming is everywhere after and before broadcast. Syndication windows are shrinking and in some situations don't even exist.

The portal and search battle is heating up, especially as broadband penetration increases dramatically.

"Short form video is best. Soapnetic, which is a 30-minute program on TV, was cut down to a three-minute program distributed online and was very well received," said Whitney.

Advertising opportunities
New companies are leading the charge to innovate in the TV space. For example, Visible World can assemble ads on the fly so that local markets can be targeted, and Navic Networks allows ads to be refreshed every week, and it will be even more frequently in the future.

"Brands must look for relevant programming and put their messages everywhere consumers live and play," Whitney said.

New ad platforms are showing promise. Turner's video on demand ad strategy that includes one ad spot before a program makes consumers less likely to fast forward through the advertising portion.

Television's extreme makeover is sure to unleash new ways and places for advertisers to engage audiences.

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