An interesting article from the Washington Postregarding the success of FOX’s ‘Remote Free TV’ initiative with “Fringe” and potentially Dollhouse, when it airs:
Turns out, when a network puts fewer, and shorter, ad breaks in a TV series, you like it, and tend to be more inclined to sit through those commercials.
This revolutionary discovery was made by media buyer Magna in looking at early returns on Fox’s new genre drama “Fringe.”
Back in May, when Fox execs unveiled their 2008-09 season plans to advertisers in New York, they promised to slash ad time on J.J. Abrams’s “Fringe” and Joss Whedon’s midseason “Dollhouse.”
“We’re going to have less commercials, less promotional time and less reason for viewers to use the remote,” Fox entertainment division Chairman Peter Liguori said. “We’re going to have more character, more content, more value.”
The network even gave it a name: Remote-Free TV.
According to Magna, “Fringe” so far has contained less than half the commercial load of the typical Fox drama. The average Fox drama is 70 percent drama, 27 percent ads. When you’re watching “Fringe” you’re getting 84 percent drama, 13 percent ads.
Let’s hope it has the same impact on Dollhouse.
