'Remote-Free TV' Debuts With Fox's 'Fringe'

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Fox will run a new program, "Fringe," with fewer ad breaks and charge more than usual for them. The "Fringe" plan runs counter to how most TV is sold. Over the years, the average amount of airtime devoted by broadcast networks to either commercials or promotions for network shows has risen to about 15 minutes per hour, according to MindShare, a WPP Group media-buying concern. Fox will run "Fringe" with roughly half the standard amount of ads and network promos. "If there's one thing I believe will help TV in the future, it is finding ways to make advertising more relevant and to reduce clutter for consumers," said Kris Magel, exec VP-national broadcast director at Interpublic Group of Cos.' Initiative. "The more you can do that, the less they will seek to avoid it, and the less they seek to avoid it, the better they will remember it and the more it's worth."


'Remote-Free TV' Debuts With Fox's 'Fringe'