We had a lively discussion some months back about the old broadcast network "taboo" of even mentioning a competitor's name, such as on talk shows ("My next guest stars in a new show that airs on 'another network...'"). Such restrictions were eventually relaxed.
What I want to know is: when did cable channels start to routinely run promos for other cable channels? Frankly, the practice never made sense to me. It is one thing if the channels you are promoting are co-owned (i.e., makes sense for, say, TBS to run promos for TNT, or TCM, or CNN) as the revenue goes into the same pocket regardless. But why would a cable channel accept promos for other channels that are directly competitive with them? It's one thing to say, well, if they pay us, we will run it, but by doing so, you are potentially tempting viewers away from your own programs.
Am I off-base here? Are these competitor's promos actually aired by the channels in question, or are they being inserted by the cable company? (I see a lot of breaks where there is a brief glimpse of some other commercial or promo, then it is suddenly covered by a promo for some other channel's programming.)
It's very confusing. Especially to my 80 y/o mother, who tends to drift into little cat naps while watching TV. Many times, she gets flummoxed because she'll be watching, say, Hallmark Channel, doze off for a moment, then awake to see a promo for Lifetime or Oxygen or some other network, think that she is somehow on the wrong channel, then fumble with the remote trying to find what she had been watching. (And remotes are not made, in size or functionality, to be adeptly handled by a half-asleep senior citizen with arthritis...) :
What I want to know is: when did cable channels start to routinely run promos for other cable channels? Frankly, the practice never made sense to me. It is one thing if the channels you are promoting are co-owned (i.e., makes sense for, say, TBS to run promos for TNT, or TCM, or CNN) as the revenue goes into the same pocket regardless. But why would a cable channel accept promos for other channels that are directly competitive with them? It's one thing to say, well, if they pay us, we will run it, but by doing so, you are potentially tempting viewers away from your own programs.
Am I off-base here? Are these competitor's promos actually aired by the channels in question, or are they being inserted by the cable company? (I see a lot of breaks where there is a brief glimpse of some other commercial or promo, then it is suddenly covered by a promo for some other channel's programming.)
It's very confusing. Especially to my 80 y/o mother, who tends to drift into little cat naps while watching TV. Many times, she gets flummoxed because she'll be watching, say, Hallmark Channel, doze off for a moment, then awake to see a promo for Lifetime or Oxygen or some other network, think that she is somehow on the wrong channel, then fumble with the remote trying to find what she had been watching. (And remotes are not made, in size or functionality, to be adeptly handled by a half-asleep senior citizen with arthritis...) :
