Print and broadcast have died. What’s a creative to do?

The mass media many of us grew up with has changed. And quickly. This has, and continues to have an impact on how we content creators make our livings. And how much we can flex our creative muscles.

Sure, it started with the internet. But for me it really started to hit home in 2009 when I had to explain to my father why here in the US he needed to upgrade his TV from analog to digital. He found it all very confusing.

In an effort to console his confusion, I commented that he needn’t worry, this was all temporary anyway. I told him that before long, all broadcast and likely cable TV would likely be no more. He gave me a look that said, “Are you feeling okay?”

Sure enough, 2016 was the watershed year that online ad spending surpassed traditional broadcast (which was always the home of the best ads). With $72.5 billion, compared to the slightly less $71.3 billion spent on TV. With the possible exception of major events like the Super Bowl, broadcast media has little to offer most of today’s viewers who have migrated to streaming services. Leaving the less desirable demographics of those over 65 and lower income to broadcast channels.

Cable TV has been hurting as well. Comcast just announced last month their desire to sell off all of their cable channels in what almost amounts to a fire sale. Ouch!

And this past year saw 77.7% of all US ad spending going to digital media. The debate is over.

I wasn’t prescient back there in 2009 when I predicted this. I had already seen what was happening with print. By that year magazine sales were plummeting and online publications were growing like crab grass.

Where is creative advertising in this new world?

To try and answer this, I first need to share two quick stories.

FIRST: It’s hard to know the future.

Also in 2009 I got to sit down with the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Advertising Age, Rance Crain. While working on a few projects together he turned to me and asked, “Lance, you’re a smart fellow. Tell me, how is all this digital going to work?”

While I was flattered by his confidence, and said I could take some guesses, I didn’t have any great confidence in them.” With a chuckle he replied, “I have no idea either. And anyone that tells me they do, are damned liars.”

Sixteen years later now and there are still questions that need to be answered.

SECOND: Not all advertising was great.

Early in my career I hit the ground running, doing great ads for great brands, and creating great visual advertising. At that time a friend was working in “real estate advertising”, which was essentially the classifieds. Not terribly creative.

Now that we are 30 years into the internet future, what’s it looking like? Unfortunately, a lot like the work my friend was doing.

For many years much of online advertising has been Google click-ads. Essentially classified ads. Yes, we graduated to GIF banner ads, but we haven’t moved much beyond that since.

As one online source states: “While exact figures vary, according to current data, a significant portion of online advertising remains click and banner based.”

For those of us that did, or aspired to spend a life creating gorgeous advertising in print and broadcast advertising, it’s hard to find outlets for it on the web.

Online Magazines: Where’s the creative work?

While print maybe wheezing and coughing, online magazines are alive and (mostly) well. And they take advertising. But there are many caveats.

Gone are the days of designing beautiful full page ads. Or, the virtual orgasm creatives had when told they needed to create a beautiful 2-page spread! Today’s online magazine ads are “enhanced banners”. Meaning they are larger, yes, and they may include some animation or even video.

But for the most part, they are remarkably underwhelming. And let’s face it, producing online ads doesn’t quite give you the bragging rights that a print ad used to. And it certainly doesn’t look as good in a portfolio!

The TV commercial reboot

But what of the rebirth of TV commercials online? It’s a decidedly mixed bag there as well. To use the internet like a TV requires broadband, which in the US only hit 70% adoption by 2013, and hovers around 90% today. Not bad, but not great compared to broadcasts virtual 100% reach since 1970. Then again, you can’t put broadcast in your pocket.

The other issue is not all streaming even carries commercials. Much like the now fading premium cable channels, premium streaming service like Netflix and Disney+ were traditionally commercial free. As was Amazon Prime until this year when many began offering a two-tiered option, one commercial supported and a premium without. Clearly a single-payer subscription is an easier business model for channel operators.

Then there are the newer wave of free and ad supported TV-like streamers such as Pluto TV, Freevee, Crackle and the granddaddy of streamers, YouTube. All of which run commercials. And many of which run both national big-brand advertising, as well as cheaper local ads.

And herein lay the rub

This may sound like a simple mirroring of what existed before, but it isn’t. And therein lay the problem for we creatives. Yes, premium streamers mirror premium cable, and there are no ads.

But most of the ad supported channels are running old rerun content that doesn’t get that many views. Some old reruns may only get a few hundred, or even just a few dozen views in a day! So ad budgets are very low.

What’s still missing from the internet is the premium broadcast sector. That’s the sector that is both ad-supported, but also gets millions of views. And gets the big ad budgets that we creatives crave. But there is no equivalent of that online.

The best attempt to move broadcast over to the internet has clearly been that of CBS, with their CBS All Access some years back. And that folded in 2021, being re-branded to Paramount Plus. Viewership is increasing, yes, but even in 2024 the overwhelming viewership for their shows is on broadcast.

So if you want to be a TV commercial director today, it becomes a choice between the dwindling budgets for the dwindling broadcast market. Or the much smaller budgets in the narrow-cast world of online adverting.

Again, it just doesn’t give one the bragging rights of yesteryear when you could call all your friends and family and say “Guess what? My commercial is going to be sponsoring ‘The Movie of the Week’!”

Instead, today, it’s more like, “My commercial is going to be sponsoring Mr. Beast on YouTube. But it’s on a cycle, so you may need to reload the page a few times to see it!”

See my opinion on what the IPG/Omnicom merger really means for creatives.