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Pop-Ups ... On TV
HSN experiments with ads on other channels that let viewers switch from what they’re watching to HSN’s live feed.
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Published: February 20, 2008
The "pop-up" ad - that mainstay of Internet advertising - is starting to pop up in a new place: your television screen. And home shopping channel HSN is one of the first companies to start testing the advertising technique as a way to capture viewers directly from other channels on the lineup.
In the past few weeks, St. Petersburg-based HSN has started quietly experimenting with a nifty new feature on satellite TV systems that works this way: A traditional 30-second TV ad for HSN appears on channels such as Food Network during a commercial break. During the pitch for HSN, a graphic element pops up and says "Press SELECT Now To View HSN."
If the viewer presses that select button on his or her remote control - poof - the channel immediately changes away from Food Network and switches to HSN's programming in progress. Goodbye, cooking show; hello, HSN Today's Special.
"The whole idea is to capture the consumer at that moment of interest as quickly as possible," said John McDevitt, vice president of advanced services at HSN. "Why just put an ad out there and then wait for the customer to have to go through the trouble of finding you later?"
The ads come with pros and cons. For HSN, they offer a way to boost viewership and bring in potential new shoppers. For cable and satellite TV companies they offer a way to generate more revenue, since they come with an extra fee paid by channels such as HSN. For viewers, it will be a matter of preference, whether they like the feature as a way to change channels, or view the ads as annoying.
The ads are very much in the experimentation phase, McDevitt said. The first round of ads now appear on Dish Network Corp. But HSN is talking with all other major cable and satellite providers about their capabilities to offer channel-changing TV ads.
The idea could be catching on. Bright House Networks, for example, started placing pop-up ads on networks such as A&E, promoting Bright House's own Bay News 9 channel, using the same instant channel-changing feature as HSN is testing.
For HSN, the ads highlight a high-profile and high-stakes drive to enhance its image and reach. HSN is burnishing its brand image as a fashionable arbiter of higher-end and "aspirational" merchandise, with more celebrity chefs, bigger name designers, and a more refined presence onstage and online at HSN.com. That involves a raft of new, richly produced 30-second TV spots that ask people to "do what you want to." The pop-up ads offer a way for viewers to do just that, instantly.
At the same time, cable and satellite TV companies are investing millions into interactive features that let viewers take more control of what they watch, like "triggers" that appear during live programming that lead to view-on-demand content or to interactive screens to do things such as sign up for contests or order brochures for products
Recently, those two trends came together.
In the past year, HSN and Dish Network had collaborated on a system called Shop By Remote that lets HSN viewers buy products directly through their remote controls.
Then in November, Dish upgraded software on most of its satellite boxes to let them switch channels during commercials. In January, HSN bought the feature as an added incentive, said Dish spokesman Parker McConachie. Food Network was among the first channels where the new HSN ads appeared.
McConachie declined to disclose financial terms of the deal with HSN, or statistics on how many viewers change channels through the HSN ads, though he said both parties are encouraged by the project.
There are some drawbacks, however.
The system does take away viewers from one channel and send them to another - potentially changing the ratings and revenue flow for both channels. That can upset executives with channels on the losing end of the deal.
"That is something that can come up, and we understand that," McConachie said. "But it can work both ways; when other folks promote on your channel, you can also buy that feature yourself."
In other words, Dish is asking any upset channel executives to fight fire with fire.
Dish managers do try hard to avoid direct "Coke versus Pepsi" duels between similar channels. They would not sell Fox News a way to take viewers directly from CNN, for example, McConachie said.
Food Network officials, for their part, say they are aware of HSN's project, and how it could reduce viewers of Food Network. Rather than fight that directly, Food Network may join in the trend. Food Network has done those kinds of interactive trigger projects in the past with cable and satellite companies, said spokeswoman Carrie Welch.
"We are in active confidential negotiations with Echostar/Dish Network," she said, saying she could not comment on the details.
Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at rmullins@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7919.
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