TV Isn't Dead Yet.

We spend a lot of time talking about the rise of social media on here and how it’s affected marketing and changed the balance of power and moving everything into the digital arena and all that. But we need to bear in mind that while TV may be down, it’s certainly not out.

There will always be live TV. Whether it’s the news, sports, talk shows or reality shows, there will be entertainment that just works better in real time.

And those shows will likely contain ads. If for no other reason than that ads are far more interesting than the announcers blathering during the two minute time-outs and halftimes and whatnot that occur in professional sports.

Now my guess is that the ads will look a bit different than what we’re used to seeing now. For one thing, those million dollar production will be gone and spots will be simpler and will rely on an expanding supply of stock art, both professional and amateur.

Second, most TV commercials will be retail spots. TV is a great medium for retail. For 30 seconds, you get a visual display of a few items from the store or manufacturer, along with prices, whose goal is to entice you to go visit the store or website. Since prices are news, this fits in with the theory of The Real Digital Revolution, that the role of traditional advertising was to bring us news about a brand or product.

Now the good news is that “retail” spans a pretty broad selection, from local car dealer associations (e.g. Tri-State Honda Dealers) to department stores to online emporia like Zappos. So if TV is your metier, then you can stop worrying about being outdated.

Because TV is still a powerful medium with lots of reach and watching it is still a habit.If you're planning to write it off, you do so at your own risk.