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Television advertisement

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A television advertisement is a short clip shown during a program. People also call these ads commercials, spots, or adverts.

Radio News Sep 1928 Cover
Radio News Sep 1928 Cover

These ads aim to market a product, service, or idea. Companies pay to show them on television. This money is very important for many networks. It provides a large part of the funding for privately owned stations.

Making an ad involves three main steps. First, a team creates an ad that follows broadcast rules. In the UK, a group called Clearcast must give permission. In Venezuela, a group called CNAC does this job. Second, the ad is placed on a specific show or time. This helps reach the right customers. Third, companies measure the results to see if the ad worked. This measurement is often called return on investment.

1929- Advertising revenue as percent of GDP (US)
1929- Advertising revenue as percent of GDP (US)

Television ads have a long history. The very first paid TV ad happened in the United States. It aired on July 1, 1941, at 2:30 p.m. on a station called WNBT in New York. The ad was for Bulova watches. It showed a clock pattern on the screen for one minute. In Asia, the first ad appeared in Tokyo in 1953. It was for Seikosha on Nippon Television. The UK saw its first ad in 1955 on ITV for Gibbs SR toothpaste.

There are many ways to see ads today. Some ads use product placement. This is when a show uses real brands, like using Sears tools in a program. Other ads are called overlays or banners. These appear at the bottom of the screen. They can cover part of the picture, sometimes up to 25 percent.

Marlboro-Ferrari
Marlboro-Ferrari

Some people use digital television recorders, or DTRs, to skip these ads. In the UK, 22 percent of homes had a DTR at the end of 2008. These tools let people fast-forward through commercials.

Advertising can affect people in different ways. Children react to ads based on their age. Kids under two years old cannot tell the difference between a show and an ad. Children between three and six years old can tell them apart. Older children between seven and 11 can see how ads try to sell things. Teenagers aged 12 or 13 can usually decide if they want to buy a product. They might still find it hard to spot tricky product placements.

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Quaker Corn Bran scarecrow commercial 1...
File:Radio News Sep 1928 Cover.jpg
Radio News Sep 1928 Cover.jpg
File:1929- Advertising revenue as percent of GDP (US).svg
1929- Advertising revenue as percent of...
File:Marlboro-Ferrari.jpg
Marlboro-Ferrari.jpg
McDonald's_commercial_(1963).webm
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