Infomercial "Roadblocking" on Four TV Stations in Same Area

[retrothoughts]

Infomercial "roadblocks" happen all the time. I have seen many instances of 2 or more cable channels carrying the same half-hour commercial at the same time in an early-morning time slot.

But how often have any of you seen what I saw this morning? All four of the Tampa Bay area's major-network affiliates--WFLA-8 [NBC], WTSP-10 [CBS], WTVT-13 [Fox] and WFTS-28 [ABC]--carried the same infomercial for the NuWave Convection Oven at 11:30 am Eastern time on Sunday 7/14/13. In the half-hour after that, Fox 13 and "your ABC Action News station" then both showed another infomercial for the Ninja Megablender.

It's not enough you have infomercials, but the same one on four TV stations in the same area? Is it all that uncommon?

 

[PirateJohnny]

We operate three TV stations where I work. Yes that is common. We have run the same infomercial on all three at the same time. But look closely. Each station has a different phone number to call so the seller can log which station generated the sale. Many times the infomercials pay per response instead of the half-hour. The advertiser plans it that way, to run the same infomercial everywhere at the same time.

 

[charlestondxman]

We had a local car dealer in Charleston, a Suzuki dealer, who did that about five years ago. You'd see the same infomercial on three, sometimes all the big 4 stations at one time.

 

[MarcB]

Several times when his real estate scam seminars have been in the NYC area Armando Montegavalo (sic) bought all the infomercial time slots on the Regional Cable Sports Network - SNY (Sports Net New York) and his infomercial was on 3 hours straight. Then it would also be on the other regional cable sports network - The Yes Network (though not for 3 hours straight) and also on ME-TV New York WZME/43 Bridgeport, CT.

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

Several times when his real estate scam seminars have been in the NYC area Armando Montegavalo (sic) bought all the infomercial time slots on the Regional Cable Sports Network - SNY (Sports Net New York) and his infomercial was on 3 hours straight. Then it would also be on the other regional cable sports network - The Yes Network (though not for 3 hours straight) and also on ME-TV New York WZME/43 Bridgeport, CT.

He's done something similar in Houston. One early weekend morning his show was on all 3 of the big 4 stations at the same time. I think the only one it wasn't on was mine. And yeah, I believe they all had different numbers.

 

[nathannah]

Armando Montelongo has done that too in Green Bay and Milwaukee; we get plenty of blocking all the time. Thankfully it's only in the late night hours as no station in Milwaukee carries mid-day infomercials, and only one does in Green Bay, and FSN Wisconsin rarely airs those types of infomercials in their late night. Whenever a hotel ballroom seminar is about to come to town you know the roadblocking is coming with it.

 

[rgseark2009]

The real-estate seminar huxters are notorious for this practice. One can tell when one of those guys are going to be in an area. Sometimes, promos (running inside the infomerical) will be cut for two markets such as Memphis and Little Rock.

 

[DToTheJ]

... It's not enough you have infomercials, but the same one on four TV stations in the same area? Is it all that uncommon?

Infomercial All-Stars To The Rescue!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartoon_All-Stars_to_the_Rescue

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Based on these comments, it appears that the infomercial producers deliberately placed their shows on as many stations as possible at the same time....so viewers can't escape them short of turning off the set!

 

[landtuna]

Based on these comments, it appears that the infomercial producers deliberately placed their shows on as many stations as possible at the same time....so viewers can't escape them short of turning off the set!

I don't know of anything that makes a viewer madder than an infomercial. With the number now running on the weekends TV stations are telling their audience they are no longer in the entertainment business. If it keeps up viewers will disappear. Except for weekends during college football season I never turn on the tube on Saturdays any longer.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Based on these comments, it appears that the infomercial producers deliberately placed their shows on as many stations as possible at the same time....so viewers can't escape them short of turning off the set!

I don't know of anything that makes a viewer madder than an infomercial.  With the number now running on the weekends TV stations are telling their audience they are no longer in the entertainment business.  If it keeps up viewers will disappear.  Except for weekends during college football season I never turn on the tube on Saturdays any longer.

All this is further proof that the networks shouldn't turn over any more time to local stations on Saturday mornings or night, or even afternoons with no major sports. Most stations would do nothing but fill it with infomercials.  :

 

[Joe_Capitano]

I don't know of anything that makes a viewer madder than an infomercial.  ...  If it keeps up viewers will disappear.

I think it's safe to say they already are. People aren't stupid. The second the statement "The following is a paid(-time) advertisement ..." hits the screen, you can hear the remotes clicking away.

And it's no help that a couple of years ago FOX turned over two hours of ***Network*** time to this crap, rather than help the affils meet another more pressing obligation (two letters: E and I). My assumption is that affiliates can opt out, though I don't know of any that do.

 

[nathannah]

I don't know of anything that makes a viewer madder than an infomercial. ... If it keeps up viewers will disappear.

I think it's safe to say they already are. People aren't stupid. The second the statement "The following is a paid(-time) advertisement ..." hits the screen, you can hear the remotes clicking away.

And it's no help that a couple of years ago FOX turned over two hours of ***Network*** time to this crap, rather than help the affils meet another more pressing obligation (two letters: E and I). My assumption is that affiliates can opt out, though I don't know of any that do.

Most of the news-heavy O&O's and Local TV Fox stations never carried Fox's kids programming, and they aren't doing the same for "Weekend Marketplace" either; if they do they push it to a sister station like a MyNetworkTV affil where it's pretty much part of a ten hour block. WITI in Milwaukee doesn't carry it, and no other station in town will pick it up, but the most ridiculous case remains the CW affiliate in San Antonio that airs it in place of their sister Fox station, pushing the network's Saturday morning kid's block to insomniac hours where only the latchkey kids lay eyes on it.

 

[PirateJohnny]

The FOX affiliate in Nashville, TN airs the weekend marketplace. The station aired the FOX kids cartoons on weekday afternoons. There has not been FOX Saturday morning cartoons in the 18 years I've worked for a FOX affiliate.

The FOX weekend marketplace doesn't ID FOX anywhere. How do you know where it is airing if your FOX station doesn't air it? (I think I know how.)

 

[azumanga]

The FOX weekend marketplace doesn't ID FOX anywhere. How do you know where it is airing if your FOX station doesn't air it? (I think I know how.)

Look for "Weekend Marketplace" in the TV listings -- it's the only place where that title is used.

 

[neomedia]

On the morning of July 21, 2013 in Cleveland Ohio both WOIO 19 and WEWS 5 were both airing the same infomercial for the Shark Sonic DUO at 11:30am.

 

[visaman]

Except for weekends during college football season I never turn on the tube on Saturdays any longer.

Not even for The Lawrence Welk Show on PBS ???

 

[anotherguyTN]

This may be semi-OT, but this past weekend CBS had no sports on Saturday or Sunday afternoons. WREG CBS 3 in Memphis took that opportunity to inflict viewers with nothing but infomercials all of both afternoons. They also did this on Father's day weekend and have done it on other weekends with no sports or a shorter afternoon schedule as well. This is proof of what would happen if the networks were to give up any more time on weekends. :-\

 

[EricStein]

I don't know which is better, the infomercials, or the legitimate cheap "filler" stations air in weekend time slots (low-budget syndicated programs such as "What America Thinks with Scott Rasmussen," "XTERRA Endurance Challenge," previews of Live Well Network shows, etc.)?

 

[MarcB]

This may be semi-OT, but this past weekend CBS had no sports on Saturday or Sunday afternoons. WREG CBS 3 in Memphis took that opportunity to inflict viewers with nothing but infomercials all of both afternoons. They also did this on Father's day weekend and have done it on other weekends with no sports or a shorter afternoon schedule as well. This is proof of what would happen if the networks were to give up any more time on weekends. :-\

Same as WFSB 3 in Hartford. They have the rights to good shows on the weekend, but air them after 11:35PM. Reruns of Cops, Criminal Minds, CSI Miami, and Inside Edition Weekend.