Cartoon 901: Addiction

Magazines, newspapers and other traditional media where largely funded through news stand and subscription fees. As the wealth of Americans and the middle class evaporated starting in the 1970s, things changed. Companies were facing increasing difficulty to pry people from their dollars. Advertising took off as the solution. The model was to get the product or service in front of as much of the public as possible.

As things progressed the opportunity to Advertise with success was shrinking. Targeted populations was becoming more and more important. Media with a defined demographic was a gold mine. The Advertisers begin flooding this media with money. The media Investors and Management looked on it as money from heaven. They started to skew the media toward more and more advertisement.

My newspaper today is a quarter advertisements. My content and its quality is reduced. I am literally paying to have them advertise. A two hour major movie on regular cable television may have an extra hour added for advertisement. All the new entrants to streaming services are bringing the advertisement model. The one big draw of Netflix and Amazon Prime content is the absence of commercials. You can see why Content owners and Advertisers are upset over ad blockers on web browsers. It restricts the easy money.

As the broader American market fades due to economics, Advertisers will be even more forceful. Access to specific demographics will be paramount. The money will keep flowing and the bean counters will keep subtracting what you are paying for and really want.