I mentioned a week ago that NBC’s HD coverage of the Olympics is airing the same commercial for Sony over and over and over and over.
Today, Tom Shales takes a look at this incredible annoyance:
… viewers who’ve been trying to watch the HDTV coverage have had to sit through the same cutesy Sony commercial for its Wega line of HDTV home theater packages over and over and over, sometimes six times in one hour, sometimes even more. It’s so far the only commercial from any company to have aired.
… Howard Stringer, chairman and CEO of Sony Corp. of America, was aghast when notified of the endlessly recycling commercial yesterday. After looking into the matter, he said the problem came about partly through a lack of — what else? — communication.
“We supplied all of the high-def equipment NBC is using for the games,” Stringer said. “Then it turned out that NBC was unable to sell any ads on their HDTV channel. So somebody thought it would be a nice way of saying ‘thank you’ to Sony to drop in Sony commercials during some of the breaks. Unfortunately they didn’t notify us and ended up using just that one spot. Our guys didn’t know about it, but of course we’re very embarrassed.”
Rick Clancy, senior vice president of Sony Electronics Inc., said from San Diego, where that branch of the company is headquartered, that Sony is red-faced about the pesky error and that “we had no idea” one single Sony spot would air over and over again. “NBC actually extended us a courtesy,” Clancy said. “We just didn’t know that meant the same spot would be the only one on the air and be constantly repeated. We had no idea we’d be the only company with a commercial on their HDTV channel.”
Clancy estimated that the audience watching the Olympics in HDTV throughout the country may number only in “the high tens of thousands,” but says the number of HDTV-equipped homes is expected to increase substantially in the months ahead.
I’m astonished that the audience is so small for HD. It’s been available now for about 7 years, I’ve had HD since 1998. I can’t be that far ahead of my time, can I?
Meanwhile, how unbelievable is it that NBC couldn’t sell a single ad for their HD Olympics channel? Not one? Consider that they give huge incentives to advertisers, including such things as cruises and other expensive gifts, and it makes you wonder if advertisers have any interest in the Olympics these days.
