Infomercial

Infomercials are television commercials that run as long as a typical television program. Infomercials, also known as paid programming or teleshopping in Europe are normally shown outside of peak hours, such as daytime or late night (usually 2:00 a.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.

Format

The word "infomercial" is a portmanteau of the words "information" and "commercial". 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.

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). 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.

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. 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. The Flowbee and Ginsu were put on air by infomercial guru Kevin Harrington. 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. Teleshopping is generally taken to mean buying at a distance or real-time transaction processing from a PC at home or work.The Internet is home to a huge teleshopping industry. Teleshopping was invented and pioneered in the UK 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.

History

It is quite possible that the first Informercial 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. 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.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. 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.

Some televangelists such as Robert Tilton and Peter Popoff 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. A block of such programming appears weekdays on BET under the umbrella title BET Inspiration.

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. There are also entire networks devoted to just airing informercials 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 informercials 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 years ago 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.e., the overnight hours). Infomercials are a near-permanent staple of ION Television's daytime and overnight schedules.

The first feature length documentary to chronicle the history of the infomercial was Pitch People.

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. At the beginning of an informercial, 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.

Widely used pitches

• "But wait!" (after pitching one deal and before pitching another, better deal. For example: "But Wait! Call in now and we'll knock off one payment, and add (product)")
• "For (number) easy payments of (price), (product) can be yours!
• "And if you aren't satisfied, you can try (product) risk free for (number) days"
• "If you call within the next (number) minutes, you'll also get..."

Parodies

The Infomercial format has been widely parodied. One quite humorous 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 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. 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.

Additional notes

• Two networks, SPEED Channel and Versus, call their infomercials by the euphemism "Consumer Product Showcase." The origin of the name is an executive decision made by the Bill Daniels family, which owned both channels at the time (then called SpeedVision and Outdoor Life Network, respectively). Today, SPEED is owned by Fox Cable Networks and VS. is controlled by Comcast.
• DirecTV has nine channels that air infomercials at least 12 hours a day: 222, 223, 224, 225, 237, 246, 268, 314, and 315.

See also

• Advertising
• Brokered programming
• Direct response television
• Marketing
• Sponsored film
• Television advertisement

External links

• infomercialscams.com Complaints coming from unsatisfied patrons for infomercial products
• Electronic Retailing Association Trade association for TV, radio and online retailers
• IMSTV.com Infomercial Monitoring Service.
• Response Magazine Magazine covering direct response television.
• Jordan-Whitney Greensheet Weekly reporting of airtimes and infomercials.
• Screenshot examples from WLUK-TV andWACY-TV of a station's infomercial disclaimer.