Has it ever been easier to watch TV?

You can watch it at home, in bars, on the streetcar, in your car, in a canoe or on a horse. It wouldn’t be hyperbole to say that TV is almost inescapable these days.

Digital evangelists may proclaim the era of TV dead, but realists are more likely to point out it’s not the medium in peril, per se, but the business model surrounding it. TV programming is being piped through an ever-expanding array of distribution channels and all of it needs advertising, or at the very least, subscriber fees, to pay for it.

But Canadian media companies are making big moves in the TV arena, and it’s made for an interesting year. Canwest burst out of the bankruptcy gates as Shaw Media, CTV was purchased by BCE and turned into Bell Media, and all four of the main nets have new bosses. And as any of them will be happy to tell you, digital distribution is at the forefront of their business vision and is considered to be a major factor in the two big media acquisitions of the past year.
What does it all mean for marketers? More places for ads, for one. Read on to find out about new types of targeted advertising, new platforms to advertise on and new ways to watch, as well as in-depth analysis of programming strategies and specialty channel news. If you thought you could escape TV by immersing yourself in a magazine…think again.

Jump to:

Prime-time battlegrounds
Addressable advertising: the census revolution
Web TV: the new online operators
Social TV: building branded communities
Television to go
Specialty roundup

From strategy online