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An infomercial is a form of
television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of
direct response television Direct response television (DRTV) is any television advertising that asks consumers to respond directly to the company — usually either by calling a toll-free telephone number, sending an SMS message, or by visiting a web site. This is a form ...
(DRTV), they are often ''program-length commercials'' (long-form infomercials), and are typically 28:30 or 58:30 minutes in length. Infomercials are also known as paid programming (or teleshopping in Europe). This phenomenon started in the United States, where infomercials were typically shown overnight (usually 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.), outside peak prime time hours for commercial broadcasters. Some
television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the ea ...
s chose to air infomercials as an alternative to the former practice of
signing off ''Signing Off'' is the debut album by British reggae band UB40, released in the UK on 29 August 1980 by Dudley-based independent label Graduate Records. It was an immediate success in their home country, reaching number 2 on the UK albums ch ...
, while other channels air infomercials 24 hours a day. Some stations also choose to air infomercials during the daytime hours, mostly on weekends, to fill in for unscheduled network or syndicated programming. By 2009, most infomercial spending in the U.S. occurred outside of the traditional overnight hours. Stations in most countries around the world have instituted similar media structures. The infomercial industry is worth over $200 billion. The Washington DC-based National Infomercial Marketing Association was formed in late 1990; by 1993 "it had more than 200" members committed to standards "with teeth". While the term "infomercial" was originally applied only to television advertising, it is now sometimes used to refer to any presentation (often on video) which presents a significant amount of information in an actual, or perceived, attempt to promote a point of view. When used this way, the term may be meant to carry an implication that the party making the communication or political speech is exaggerating truths or hiding important facts. The ''New York Times'' cited a professional in the field as saying that "infomercial companies tend to do well during recessions."


Format

The word "infomercial" is a
portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsinformation Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random, ...
" and " commercial". As in any other form of
advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
, the content is a commercial message designed to represent the viewpoints and to serve the interest of the sponsor. Infomercials are often made to closely resemble standard
television programs A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...
. Some imitate
talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...
s and try to downplay the fact that the program is actually a commercial message. A few are developed around storylines and have been called "storymercials". However, most do not have specific television formats but craft different elements to tell what their creators hope is a compelling story about the product offered. The term ''infomercial'', by 2007, had come to refer to the format, even when used in a live presentation. Infomercials are designed to solicit quantifiable immediate direct response (a form of
direct response marketing Direct marketing is a form of communicating an offer, where organizations communicate directly to a pre-selected customer and supply a method for a direct response. Among practitioners, it is also known as ''direct response marketing''. By ...
not to be confused with direct marketing); they generally feature between two and four internal commercials of 30 to 120 seconds which invite the viewer to call or take other direct action. Many viewers respond with a delayed response, by purchases made at retail outlets. These retail purchases are often the largest response. Using "
not sold in stores Not sold in stores or not available in stores, also known as "TV only", is a marketing strategy whereby goods are heavily advertised on television or online and purchased directly from the supplier or manufacturer. The order is usually placed th ...
" is a choice by advertisers that dislike sharing profit with retailers, or who lack the immense resources needed to get into retail channels. In the latter case, direct sales enables later retail distribution. Standalone shorter commercials, 30 to 120 seconds in length with a call to action, are erroneously called infomercials; when used as an independently produced commercial, they are generally known as ''DRTV spots'' or ''short-form DRTV''. Infomercial sponsors often also use shorter spots during regular programming.


Products using infomercial marketing

The products frequently marketed through infomercials at the national level include cleaning products, appliances, food-preparation devices, dietary supplements,
alternative health Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and al ...
aids,
memory improvement Memory improvement is the act of enhancing one's memory. Memory deficits, age-related memory loss, and people's want to improve their own memory have led to research on how to best help people to improve their memory. Research has also worked to ...
courses, books,
compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...
s, videos of numerous genres, real estate investment strategies, beauty supplies, baldness remedies, sexual-enhancement supplements, weight-loss programs and products, personal fitness devices, home exercise machines and adult chat lines. Uses for infomercials in the early 1990s included offering free trials of personal care products such as enhanced plaque removers; an 800-number was used to collect basic marketing information. Major brands (such as
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...
,
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...
and Thermos-Grill2Go) have used infomercials for their ability to communicate more complicated and in-depth product stories. This practice started in the early 1990s and has increased since. Such advertisers generally eschew the less reputable trappings of the traditional infomercial business in order to create communication they believe creates a better image of their products, brands and customers. Apple's use of the infomercial medium was immediately discontinued with
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; ...
' 1997 return to the helm of the company. Automobile dealerships, attorneys and jewelers are among the types of businesses that air infomercials on a local level.


History


Early infomercials

During the early days of television, many television shows were specifically created by sponsors with the main goal of selling their product, the entertainment angle being a hook to hold audience attention (this is how
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...
s got their name; such shows were sponsored by soap manufacturers). A good example of this is the early children's show ''
The Magic Clown ''The Magic Clown'' is an NBC TV series which ran from 1949 to 1954. The final NBC broadcast was on June 27, 1954. The show then moved to WABD where it stayed until 1958. After that, it was renamed ''Bonomo, The Magic Clown'' and was broadcast on ...
'' on NBC, which was created essentially as an advertisement for Bonomo's Turkish Taffy. The first infomercials for a commercial product (a
Vitamix Vita-Mix Corporation, doing business as Vitamix, is an American privately owned company operated by the Barnard family since 1921. Vitamix manufactures blenders for consumers and for the restaurant and hospitality industry. Vitamix has been base ...
blender) were filmed by Cinécraft Productions, a
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
, Ohio motion picture studio in 1949. The filmed infomercials began appearing on television in 1950. The Hagley Museum and Library has posted online a number of the early Vitamix infomercials. Eventually, limits imposed by the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
(FCC) on the amount of advertising that could appear during an hour of television did away with these programs, forcing sponsors into the background; however, a few infomercials, mainly those for greatest hits record sets (which could get around the restrictions by devoting much of the airtime to snippets of the songs on the records, which did not count as advertising) and Shop Smith power tools, did exist during the period when commercial time was restricted. During the 1970s, XETVa Mexican TV station based in
Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and
< ...
but serving the
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
marketran a one-hour English-language program on Sundays showcasing San Diego-area homes for sale. As a non-USA station, the FCC's maximum number of commercial minutes per hour did not apply to XETV. It was also during the 1970s that the hard sell "But wait! There's more!"
Ginsu Ginsu () is a brand of direct marketed knives, owned by Scott Fetzer Company, a Berkshire Hathaway Company, that was made popular in the United States by being sold on television using infomercials characterized by hawker and hard sell pitch t ...
ads were being aired on American late-night TV.


1981

The Federal Communications Commission lifted the prohibition on program-length advertisements on radio in 1981.


After 1984

Infomercials proliferated in the United States after 1984 when the Federal Communications Commission eliminated regulations that were established in the 1950s and 1960s to govern the commercial content of television. Kevin Harrington, nicknamed the "infomercial godfather", had his first infomercial air in 1985. By 1994, an estimated 90% of all stations had or were airing infomercials.


Product or person as pitchman

One relatively early question was whether or not infomercials should feature celebrities. Although "how much will it cost" was part of the equation, so was a "highly demonstrable item with obvious features and benefits." Even when experts are used for their endorsement value, a "''name''" adds value in making an introduction. Infomercials particularly exploded in the mid-1990s with motivational and personal development products, and "
get-rich-quick scheme A get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to obtain high rates of return for a small investment. The term "get rich quick" has been used to describe shady investments since at least the early 20th century. Most schemes create an impression that parti ...
"s based on the premise that one could quickly become wealthy by either selling anything through classified ads or through real estate flipping. These were hawked by personalities such as
Don Lapre Donald D. Lapre (May 19, 1964 – October 2, 2011) was an American multi-level marketing and infomercial salesman. His work involved product packages such as "The Greatest Vitamin in the World" and "Making Money Secrets". Lapre was criticized as ...
and Carleton H. Sheets, among others.


When and where

When they first appeared, infomercials were most often scheduled in the United States and Canada during late-night/early morning hours. As stations have found value in airing them at other times, a large portion of infomercial spending occurs in the early morning, daytime, early prime and even prime time periods. There are also all-infomercial networks (such as cable channels Corner Store TV, OnTV4U,
Access Television Network Access Television Network (ATN) was a company based in Coral Gables, Florida, that mainly carried paid programming for 300 cable television systems with a peak reach of 35 million households. It was generally broadcast by cable systems on existi ...
and GRTV) that yield revenue for cable and satellite providers who carry them or fill local programming voids. Some cable carriage contracts were adjusted in 2006.
CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk s ...
, which airs only two hours of infomercials nightly during the business week, sometimes airs nearly 30 hours of infomercials on weekends; from the September–October 2008 financial crisis to early 2017, CNBC had inserted a "paid programming" bug at the top right corner of the screen during all airings of infomercials. In contrast, sister network
CNBC World CNBC World is an American pay television business news channel operated by the NBCUniversal News Group which provides coverage of world markets alongside the domestic CNBC service, using programmes from CNBC's international networks based in Eu ...
airs international programming rather than any paid programming. When a conventional prime-time two-minute advertising pod has no ads, the networks will run a two-minute mini-infomercial at a much lower rate, charging "as little as 5 percent of what a general advertiser would" pay.


Commercials becoming full programs

The ''New York Times'' suggested that "the commercial became the show as infomercials ruled the night." A comparison of television listings from 2007 with 1987 verifies that many North American broadcasters began to air infomercials in lieu of syndicated television series reruns and movies, which were formerly staples during the more common hours infomercials are broadcast (such as the overnight hours). Infomercials were previously a near-permanent staple of Ion Television's daytime and overnight schedules, but the channel now only carries infomercials in the traditional 3:00-8:00 a.m ET/PT timeslot emulated by most cable networks. Multichannel providers such as
DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...
had objected to carrying Ion feeds consisting largely of paid programming. This is despite both DirecTV and Dish carrying several infomercial-only and leased access networks which have been criticized by their subscribers.


United Kingdom

As with other advertising, content is supervised by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and regulated by
Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
. Advertising rules are written and maintained by the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP), working closely with the ASA and Ofcom. In the UK, "admags" (advertisement magazines) were originally a feature of the regional commercial ITV stations from launch in 1955. While very popular, admags were banned in 1963. The word "teleshopping" was coined in 1979 by
Michael Aldrich Michael Aldrich (22 August 1941 – 19 May 2014) was an English inventor, innovator and entrepreneur. In 1979 he invented online shopping to enable online transaction processing between consumers and businesses, or between one business and an ...
, who invented real-time transaction processing from a domestic television and subsequently installed many systems throughout the UK in the 1980s. This would now be referred to as
online shopping Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of t ...
. In the 1989, the ''Satellite Shop'' was launched as the first UK shopping channel. Shortly afterwards, infomercials began on satellite television, and they became known as ''teleshopping''. Until 2009, the UK permitted neither paid infomercials nor teleshopping on broadcast television. However, in 2009, Ofcom allowed up to three hours of infomercials per day on any channel. Airtime for political messages, known as Party Political Broadcasts, is allocated free of charge to political parties according to a formula approved by Parliament, and is available only on broadcast television and radio channels. The Communications Act 2003 prohibits political advertising. Television advertising of pharmacy-only and prescription drugs is also prohibited.


Televangelists

Some U.S.
televangelists Televangelism ( tele- "distance" and "evangelism," meaning " ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are ministers, whether official or self-p ...
such as Robert Tilton and Peter Popoff buy television time from infomercial brokers representing television stations around the U.S., and even some widely distributed cable networks that are not averse to carrying
religious programming Religious broadcasting, sometimes referred to as faith-based broadcasts, is the dissemination of television and/or radio content that intentionally has religious ideas, religious experience, or religious practice as its core focus. In some coun ...
. A block of such programming appears weekdays on
BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...
under the
umbrella title An umbrella title is a formal or informal name connecting a number of individual items with a common theme. It is most often used in lieu of listing the separate components or providing a convenient "label" for a collection of disciplines. Uses of ...
''BET Inspiration'' (which fully replaced the direct-response variety of infomercials on the channel in 1997). The vast majority of religious programming in the United States is distributed through paid infomercial time; the fees that televangelists pay for coverage on most religious stations are a major revenue stream for those stations, in addition to programming the networks produce themselves.


TiVo

TiVo formerly used paid programming time weekly on the Discovery Channel on early Thursday mornings and Ion Television on early Wednesday mornings to record interactive and video content to be presented to subscribers in a form of linear
datacasting Datacasting (data broadcasting) is the broadcasting of data over a wide area via radio waves. It most often refers to supplemental information sent by television stations along with digital terrestrial television (DTT), but may also be applied ...
without the need to interfere with a subscriber's internet bandwidth (or lack thereof if they solely used the machine's dialup connection for updating). The program was listed as ''Teleworld Paid Program'', named for TiVo's corporate name at its founding. ''Teleworld Paid Program'' was quietly discontinued at the start of the 2016–17 television season as the company's install base had mostly transitioned to broadband and newer TiVo devices no longer included a dialup option.


The 2007–2010 financial crisis

During the financial crisis that lasted from 2007 to 2010, many struggling individual television stations began to devote more of their programming schedules to infomercials, thereby reducing syndication contracts for regular programming. Some stations found that the revenue from infomercial-time sales were higher than those possible through traditional television advertising and syndication sales options. However, the reduced ratings from airing infomercials can have a chain reaction and harm ratings for other programming on the station. A feature-length documentary that chronicles the history of the infomercial is '' Pitch People''. In 2008, Tribune Media Services and Gemstar-TV Guide/ Rovi began to relax the guidelines for listing infomercials within their electronic program guide listings. Previously all infomercials were listed under the title "Paid Programming" (except for exceptions listed below), but now infomercial producers are allowed to submit a title and limited descriptive synopsis (though phone numbers or website addresses remain disallowed) to the listings providers.


Fox's Saturday morning programming

In January 2009, Fox became the first major broadcast network to carry a regularly scheduled block of paid programming when it discontinued its Saturday morning children's programming after disputes with provider
4Kids Entertainment 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English- dub ...
. Fox gave back three early hours to its affiliates, while retaining two hours for infomercials under the title '' Weekend Marketplace''. Some local stations utilize Saturday morning slots to air local paid programming that typically sells used cars or real estate, and in other ways rejected infomercials, which were disdained by viewers and Fox affiliates alike: revenue was not shared with affiliates, and no local time for commercials between programs was offered. Some stations used Saturday morning for Educational/Informational (E/I) programming, with infomercials relegated to before or after the block. Some refused ''Weekend Marketplace'' outright. In September 2014, ''Weekend Marketplace'' was replaced in some markets by the E/I-focused '' Xploration Nation''.


Criticism and legal issues

In the United States, the
Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction o ...
(FTC) requires that any infomercial 15 minutes or longer must disclose to viewers that it is a paid advertisement. An infomercial is required to be "clearly and conspicuously" marked as a "paid advertisement for
articular product or service The articular bone is part of the lower jaw of most vertebrates, including most jawed fish, amphibians, birds and various kinds of reptiles, as well as ancestral mammals. Anatomy In most vertebrates, the articular bone is connected to two ot ...
/nowiki>, sponsored by ponsor/nowiki>" at the beginning ("following program") and end ("preceding program") of the advertisement and before ordering instructions are displayed. Customer protection advocates recommend buyer beware: study the product and the claims before making a purchase. Many stations and networks normally run their own disclaimers before, during and/or after infomercials. Some mention the Better Business Bureau or a state/local customer protection agency. A "paid programming" bug in a corner of the screen during infomercials, particularly for financial products, is to avoid an exploitation of an "as seen on" claim of endorsement. Some, particularly smaller networks, only use a limited number of trusted advertisers. Considerable FTC scrutiny is also given to results claims and testimonials. Rules controlling endorsements are periodically enhanced to increase customer protection and fill loopholes. Industry organizations such as the Electronic Retailing Association,Electronic Retailing Association co-founder Kevin Harrington claims the title 'Godfather of the infomercial' which represents infomercial marketers, often try to minimize the impact of these rule changes. FTC enforcement has focused on testimonials for publishing "non-typical" and "completely fabricated" customer testimonials used within infomercials. In 2006, the first third-party testimonial verification company was launched, and it now independently pre-validates many testimonials. Since the 1990s, federal and state customer protection agencies have criticized several prominent infomercial pitchmen, including Kevin Trudeau, Donald Barrett and, to a lesser extent, Matthew Lesko, and also
Don Lapre Donald D. Lapre (May 19, 1964 – October 2, 2011) was an American multi-level marketing and infomercial salesman. His work involved product packages such as "The Greatest Vitamin in the World" and "Making Money Secrets". Lapre was criticized as ...
, a salesman notorious for his
get-rich-quick scheme A get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to obtain high rates of return for a small investment. The term "get rich quick" has been used to describe shady investments since at least the early 20th century. Most schemes create an impression that parti ...
s.KSAZ: "Incarcerated TV Pitchman Don Lapre Found Dead", October 3, 2011.
Some were successfully sued. Programs that collect donations or sell via Premium-rate telephone number (900-number) have additional disclosure requirements.


As a putdown

The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' mediated a ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' review that used the term ''infomercial'' about a 1992 cookbook whose author's first was described as "hit No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list." Other possible putdowns include ''informercial-like'' and ''infomercial type stuff''.


Parodies

The infomercial format has been widely parodied: * ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...
''s "Bassomatic" skit featuring Dan Aykroyd in the 1970s may have presaged the genre; the target of the parody, Ron Popeil, would become an infomercial fixture in the 1980s and 1990s. * Fast Company published ''"The Greatest Infomercial Parodies Of All Time"'' in 2011. Others have been done too, and these parodies are an ongoing source of amusement and creativity.


Other uses and definitions


Political infomercials

In the United States, the strategy of buying prime-time programming slots on major networks has been utilized by political candidates for both presidential and state office to present infomercial-like programs to sell a candidate's merits to the public. Fringe presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche regularly bought time on CBS and local stations in the 1980s. In the 1990s, Ross Perot also bought network time in 1992 and 1996 to present his presidential policies to the public. The National Rifle Association has also aired programs via paid programming time to present their views on issues such as gun control and other issues while appealing to the public to join their organization.


Use during the 2008 presidential campaign

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
bought an hour of primetime programming on the Hallmark Channel in 2008 before the Super Tuesday primary elections, and on
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
-based
regional sports network In the United States and Canada, a regional sports network (RSN) is a cable television channel (many of which are also distributed on direct broadcast satellite services) that presents sports programming to a local market or geographical region ...
FSN Southwest before that state's primary to present a town hall-like program. Fellow presidential candidate
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
's 2008 presidential campaign used infomercials extensively, including running a 24-hour channel on Dish Network. One week before the 2008 general election, Obama purchased a 30-minute slot at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time during primetime on seven major networks ( NBC, CBS,
MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
, Fox,
BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...
, TV One and
Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and include ...
(with Spanish subtitles)) to present a "closing argument" to his campaign. The combination of these networks reportedly drew a peak audience of over 33 million viewers of the half-hour program, making it the single most watched infomercial broadcast in the history of U.S. television. Aside from blocking viewer choice, reception was not all positive: an NBC reviewer referred to Obama as having a "thin resume". Obama opponent
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...
, commenting on pushing off the opening of the ''World Series'', said "No one will delay the World Series with an infomercial when I’m president."


Children's programming

Although not meeting the definition of an infomercial ''per se'', animated children's programming in the 1980s and early 1990s, which included half-hour animated series for franchises such as ''
Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, ...
'', ''
My Little Pony ''My Little Pony'' (''MLP'') is a toy line and media franchise developed by American toy company Hasbro. The first toys were developed by Bonnie Zacherle, Charles Muenchinger, and Steve D'Aguanno, and were produced in 1981. The ponies feature ...
'', '' Go-Bots'' and '' BraveStarr'' were often described as essentially program-length commercials, as they also sold the tie-in toy lines and food products for the shows within commercials. The Children's Television Act of 1990 would end this practice and setting commercial limits. Currently, any advertisement for a tie-in product within the show is considered a violation of the FCC rules and is considered a "program length commercial" by their standards, putting the station at risk of paying large fines for violations.


Daytime programming

From the 1970s to early 1990s, locally produced morning and daytime programs designed mainly for a stay-at-home female audience featured light talk, followed by presentations of various products and services offerings of local businesses. A guest expert was often included. These were not infomercials: response was in-store, although the expert's phone number might be included. The format enabled presenting details beyond those possible in a traditional 30-second pre-recorded ad. To preclude conflict of interest, the program host was not associated in any way with the station's newsroom. By the mid-2000s, these transitioned from locally produced programs to what is known as an advertorial. Some programs had one or more 120-second pods, but these programs were all paid programming. These programs can be considered infomercials, albeit not exactly meeting the letter of the definition. As with the early model, advertorial hosts are precluded from newsroom involvement, often to the point of having no IFB notice to guide viewers to a
breaking news Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...
story that interrupts an advertorial program.


Infomercial companies

Traditional infomercial marketers (for example,
Guthy-Renker Guthy-Renker ( ) is a California-based direct-response marketing company that sells health and beauty products directly to consumers through infomercials, television ads, direct mail, telemarketing, e-mail marketing, and the Internet. Many of ...
,
Beachbody The Beachbody Company is a publicly traded American fitness and media company based in El Segundo, California. It operates the brands Beachbody On Demand, Team Beachbody, MYXfitness and Openfit. The company also sells dietary supplements such as ...
, and
Telebrands Telebrands is an American direct response marketing company, and the original creator of the "As Seen On TV" logo and category of trade. History The company's CEO A. J. Khubani started the company in 1983, creating print advertisements for h ...
) source the products, pay to develop the infomercials, pay for the media, and are responsible for all sales of the product. Sometimes, they sell products they source from inventors. Telebrands's process of bringing a product to the air and to market was seen in the 2009 Discovery Channel series ''
PitchMen ''PitchMen'' (original name: ''But Wait...There's More'')Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan, along with the top executives of Telebrands. There is also a well-developed network of suppliers to the infomercial industry. These suppliers generally choose to focus on either traditional infomercials (hard sell approaches) or on using infomercials as advertising/sales channels for brand companies (branded approaches). In the traditional business, services are usually supplied by infomercial producers or by media buying companies. In the brand infomercial business, services are often provided by full service agencies who deliver strategy, creative, production, media, and campaign services.


Use around the world

The infomercial industry was started in the United States and that has led to the specific definitions of infomercials as direct response television commercials of specific lengths (30, 60 or 120 seconds; five minutes; minutes or 58 minutes and 30 seconds). Infomercials have spread to other countries from the U.S. However, the term "infomercial" needs to be defined more universally to discuss use in all countries. In general, worldwide use of the term refers to a television commercial (paid programming) that offers product for direct sale to persons via response through the web, by phone, or by mail. There are few structures that apply everywhere in the international infomercial business. The regulatory environment in each country as well as that country's television traditions have led to variations in format, lengths, and rules for long form commercials and television commercials selling directly to customers. For example, in the early 1990s long form paid programming in Canada was required to consist only of photographs without moving video (this restriction no longer exists). Many products which started in the United States have been taken into international distribution on television. In addition, each country has local entrepreneurs and marketers using the medium for local businesses. What may be called infomercials are most commonly found in North and South America, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia. In many countries, the infrastructure of direct response television distributors, telemarketing companies and product fulfillment companies (shipping, customer service) are more difficult and these missing pieces have limited the spread of the infomercial. Canadian ''Northern Response'', an early non-USA entrant to the field, claims to have distributed "over 3,000 infomercials since 1984." By 1996, countries with Teleshopping included France, Germany, UK, Japan, and Mexico.


Research on effectiveness

Research has been conducted on the general public's perceptions of infomercials. It was found that "With infomercials, you don't buy eyeballs, you buy responsiveness." Agee and Martin (2001) found that infomercial purchases involved some degree of planning rather than being purely impulse purchases. Aspects of advertising content also influenced whether the purchase decision was impulsive or planned. Martin, Bhimy and Agee (2002) studied the use of advertising content such as the use of testimonials and customer characteristics. Based on a survey of 878 people who had bought products after viewing infomercials, they found that infomercials were more effective if they used expert comments, testimonials, product demonstrations, and other approaches. Customer age and product type also influenced perceived effectiveness.Brett A. S. Martin, Andrew Bhimy and Tom Agee (2002)
"Infomercials and Advertising Effectiveness: An Empirical Study"
, ''Journal of Consumer Marketing'', 19 (6), 468-480.


Time-slot effectiveness

Early research found that selecting the best time of day requires avoiding prime time, when "there's too much competition for viewers' attention."


Profitability

Profits from producing infomercials were described as not being "''the real profits''" when compared to "owning the product."


See also

* Advertorial * Brokered programming *
Direct response television Direct response television (DRTV) is any television advertising that asks consumers to respond directly to the company — usually either by calling a toll-free telephone number, sending an SMS message, or by visiting a web site. This is a form ...
*
Home shopping Home shopping is the electronic retailing and home shopping channels industry, which includes such billion dollar television-based and e-commerce companies as Shop LC, HSN, Gemporia, TJC, QVC, eBay, ShopHQ, Buy.com and Amazon.com, as well as ...
* Informative advertising * Product demonstration *
Psychological pricing Psychological pricing (also price ending, charm pricing) is a pricing and marketing strategy based on the theory that certain prices have a psychological impact. In this pricing method, retail prices are often expressed as just-below numbers: ...
* Sponsored film *
Television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
* Telethon


References


Further reading

* {{Authority control Advertising techniques Brokered programming Infomercials, Marketing techniques Promotion and marketing communications Television terminology 1980s neologisms Interstitial television shows