American Idol's Ads - TOO MUCH

          Has been one of the most watched show, American Idol from Fox Entertainment is facing some criticisms over its overdose use of ads in its show case. In the recent episode, Ryan Seacrest, who is the host of the show, constantly flashed Apple iPhone for nearly a minute elaborating what it can do and how nice it is to use when viewers vote for their favorite contenders. Also, in front of the judges, there are always red cups written in Coca-Cola.

          The show has been running for seven years introducing many talented amateur singers to the world and been recognized one of the most successful reality shows in America. However, now a day it seems like it's more like a marketing showcase rather than musical competition. All the major corporations sponsoring the show, including Ford, Apple, Coca-Cola, AT&T and more, are putting their best efforts to appeal their logo on the show; however, it seems like it's getting out of control.

          Compared to the previous seasons, now American Idol is starting to show its decline in rating, according to the article, "...the ratings before the May 21 finale were off about 10% from last year" and a question has been raised, "Will product placement kill the video star?" (businessweek).

          Another problem that the show is facing is that it's targeted segment is aging faster than any other shows. What first started as teen's must-see kind of show, the current median viewer age are 43. Even though the show is still highly attractive for many companies to put their ads on, if it gets too much, young viewers are the first ones to notice.

          When I saw the show few years ago, I also notice that they are putting too much ads on the show, and now it's saying that it got worse. American Idol is such an exciting show, and people love to see unnoticed amateurs to become America's top singers. However, putting too much ads would distract the viewers to concentrate what the show is really trying to appeal and fade away the important characteristic it has: interaction with viewers. Even if the companies still think it's beneficial by putting their ads on the show, they should realize one day, people would say "I had enough of this."


Reference;
Grover, Ronald. "American Idol's Ads Infinitum" BusinessWeek. May 22, 2008.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_22/b4086038607130.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_news+%2B+analysis

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