Enough of commercial breaks - an irate viewer said and yelled, ’We now need a consumer break- a break from commercials which never seem to end.’
I am sure that irate viewer has a lot of company in the form of many others who are definitely, evidently and expectedly fed up of watching the same commercials over and over again.
Consumer break is here - in the form of Tivo. Though it will take some time for interactive television to enter India, the technology whenever it shall come shall empower the viewers in a big way.
It will be a situation diametrically opposite to the one that we had in the days of DD. Those days, DD had the power to show what it wanted to and when it wanted - in future, viewers will have the power to see what they want to and when they want to.
The technology will enable viewers to pause live telecasts and catch up once they are free from their engagements. This - in many ways can hurt the advertisers. Channel owners will also have to rethink about their revenue models.
It is quite possible that viewers will have to pay more in the form of subscription - whatever the future may be, one thing is sure - consumer break is on its way!