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Total TV/Video Advertising Disadvantages

• Is expensive to produce and to buy
• Prime placement may not be available due to limited avails within the most popular programs
• May be less demographically selective as other media forms, although cable TV options may be more focused
• Is typically cluttered, so spots may be placed deep within a string of commercials.  Viewers may head to the fridge during long commercial breaks, or switch channels.  Messaging may get lost in the shuffle, long-term recall may be lost.
• May be fast-forwarded if program is recorded for later viewing
• Increased use of social media in conjunction with TV-viewing may diminish or eliminate any attention to advertising messages aired
• Over 70% of adults feel that broadcast TV, cable/satellite TV has too many ads (Source: Nielsen 2023 Consumer Survey Report)

Network TV Disadvantages

• Ratings have eroded considerable with the growth of cable viewing and increased competition from various digital media
• Viewer loyalty has declined due to excessive stunting, schedule changes and program preemptions
• Audiences are increasingly older, more downscale as younger consumers move to other platforms
• Primetime is no longer the ultimate vehicle to reach mass audiences. Between 20-25% of the population is not reached weekly by combined ABC/CBS/NBC/Fox prime
• Ad exposure and impact have declined based on increased clutter, dial switching and ad skipping via DVRs
• No capacity to target specific areas within a given market
• Expensive – Highest CPM of any form of TV
• High commercial production costs
• While Nielsen's TV are superior to other media research, challenges remain re sample balancing, editing rules and measurement of new forms of transmission

Local Spot TV Disadvantages

• Stations don't guarantee spot placement unless fixed-position premium is paid; buys may be preempted for higher rate schedules
• Programming varies throughout the day, so zeroing-in on a specific target audience group can be a challenge on local TV
• Many stations get help from their networks to hype Nielsen "sweep" period ratings
• CPMs are usually comparable to broadcast TV networks/syndication for the same dayparts, but are not formally guaranteed.  While bonus spots or makegoods may be given, their timing and program typing may not be appropriate.
• Nielsen audience samples for local markets are very basic in comparison to network research – small samples, slow reporting, minimal ethnic data
• Targeting selective consumer demographics is problem with only broad sex/age ratings data available
• For multi-market advertisers, negotiating and buying on a market-by-market basis is tedious and difficult
• Post-buy accounting can be very difficult

Syndicated TV Disadvantages

• Limited availability, not distributed across all dayparts
• Upscale demographics, males are difficult to target
• Limited program range versus broadcast networks, cable
  • Sports programming, fare aimed at kids is scarce to non-existent
  • Genres such as talk, court shows, sitcoms oversaturated

Ad-Supported Cable TV Disadvantages

• Full-market coverage is only available in I+ markets; advertisers must supplement with ADS (satellite/telcos) to achieve full-market saturation
• Bundling – or the packaging of multiple channels by cable access providers – forces consumers to pay for channels they don't watch
• Due to rising costs of subscriptions and increasing availability of other video options, more and more consumer are "pulling the plug" on cable services
• Approximately 13.6% of U.S. households only have access to broadcast TV, not cable
• While excellent programming is abundant, cable also fills a lot of air-time with reruns
• The large – and growing – number of cable channels creates a high degree of audience fragmentation, resulting in lower program ratings in general
• Number of channels makes buying difficult, placing commercials, tracking makegoods, doing post-analysis is time cumbersome and time consuming
• Clutter is a major issue on some channels, leading to even more avoidance than on broadcast TV
• Commercials give cable a downscale image
  • Glut of infomercials aired in late night and early morning
  • Poorly produced "local" spots may surround your well-executed spot
• Nielsen data on smaller cable channels, especially digital channels, is limited due to sample size issues
• Digital services such as Netflix pose a threat to cable and broadcast as the offer on-demand viewing, original content
• Major Pay TV providers lost an estimated 2,215,000 subscribers in Q1 of 2023 (Source: Leichtman Research Group, Q1 2023)