[Dixielandjazz] TV, Ratings and Jazz

[Rob McCallum]

Hi all,

In the past, I think the problem had been that television and the
advertisers have, almost universally, tried to produce programming that
would appeal to the most people (the lowest common denominator effect).  In
addition, they have always assumed that they knew what the "public" wanted.
What that did was leave groups of people (with money to spend) alienated
from most programs (and, more importantly, not watching advertisements).
When you're talking about Nielsen ratings, you can be talking about how many
"millions" of people watched a particular event in order for it to be
successful.

With cable TV, new stations and programming now exist to find specific
niches, and it's providing more diversity in programming.  It works because
a huge number of advertisers don't need to reach the largest mass market,
but want to spend their ad budgets where their ads can be most effective.
The new home improvement channels are a good example of this.  Their market
share is, comparatively, small, but the people who watch are the people who
are looking for ideas for home improvement and design and have money to
spend.  They are the perfect channels for advertisers like The Home Depot,
Lowes, paints etc. etc.

There is a lot of push now in advertising to find, not the biggest market,
but the correct market.  It's not only happening on TV, but also (and even
more so) on the Internet.  Some advertisers even log on to chat lists like
ours to place messages (for instance, when I was writing of the virtues of
XM radio and their Dixieland programming, how do you know that I didn't do
that because I work for XM and came on the list because I saw 500 potential
listeners?-- I don't, but that is how a lot of advertising is now taking
place).  Advertisers find you and specifically target ads or messages based
on your interests.  It's less expensive than an ad on ABC prime time, and
can bring in a much higher percentage of success for their clients.

I think this trend benefits smaller communities like jazz listeners.  It may
be a small audience compared to the masses, but because advertisers are
noticing these niches, these niche markets will get more exposure in the
media and will, in turn, generate new interest in jazz (i.e. if the jazz
audience keeps growing, it is possible that there will be a new cable show
developed to capture that audience).

All the best,
Rob McCallum