For most of the last 50 years, television has been the dominant medium of advocacy and politics in America. Partisan politics have been about 30-second spots and eight-second sound bites on the evening news. Most of the billions spent by advocacy groups, party committees and candidates every two years go on television, and most of that money, on traditional live broadcast television. Broadcast television was the filter through which politics was experienced by most Americans.
But that old world of traditional broadcast television is going through profound and historic change. The rise of a broadband-based global communications networks is challenging the monopolistic distribution of video long enjoyed by broadcast TV. Cable and satellite viewership overtook broadcast viewership seven years ago. Digital video recording devices, led by TiVO, are altering our basic relationship to TV in ways that are only beginning to be understood and are showing explosive growth. The day on which TV ads can be delivered to your cable or satellite box, individually tailored to you, is very near. And the velocity of this all this momentous change, is, if anything, increasing.
To reflect on all this and what it means for advocacy and politics, we've assembled three brilliant panelists, all with deep knowledge of the medium. For anyone in the business of progressive advocacy and communications, you won't want to miss this compelling NPI event this Thursday, April 24, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
Joining me this Thursday for a lively discussion will be:
Todd Juenger, leader of TiVo's Audience Research and Measurement business, which provides detailed insight into how TiVo viewers consume and interact with television programming and advertisements.
Tara Walpert, President of Visible World, Inc., a company that uses new tools to customize and target advertisements so that the right message reaches the right audience at the right time.
Evan Tracey, the founder and chief operating officer of Campaign Media Analysis Group, the leading custom media research company for politics and public affairs advertising expenditure data.
We believe this event will provide you with a practical understanding of how to navigate the changing world of television and how to make the most effective use of new technologies. So please join us on Thursday, April 24, at 12 p.m., in the ballroom at the Phoenix Park Hotel, 520 N. Capitol St., NW, Washington, DC.
Please make sure to RSVP here. If you have questions, please contact Courtney Markey at 202-544-9200 or cmarkey@ndn.org.
Finally, be sure to hold the date, Friday, May 9, for The New Tools and New Audiences of Campaign 2008, a day-long event on how to best harness the potential power of new technologies and demographic shifts.
For background, check out our Buy Cable Smart Memo, our New Tools Campaign Checklist, our paper on Viral Video in Politics, and our Study on Fundamental Shifts in the US Media and Advertising Industries.