

Things have been ridiculously good for consumers the past 15 years with regards to television.



We've arguably seen some of the best shows produced, access to TV online has only gotten easier, and the selection, while overwhelming at times, has no doubt skyrocketed.



And with this elasticity of supply, we as consumers have certainly seen an improvement in some services competing for our precious eyeballs. Netflix, for example, releases all of its content commercial free, despite the obvious opportunity to increase revenue through advertisements. But because consumer demand is so high for an ad-free experience, Netflix knows its users would likely move on if they ever pushed this boundary.



But with Netflix offering such a benefit, it now seems like the expectation of consumers is now for a far less intrusive advertising experience. Most notably, this year's Olympics has seen a massive spike on people complaining about the number of ads, despite NBC reporting that quantity is actually down.



It's hard to tell if NBC is accurately reporting on this metric, but even if it's about the same as the 2012 Olympics, a lot has changed since then. Netflix became a household name, and consumers have shifted into a viewing pattern with services like DVR and on-demand, giving them the ability to fast forward through ads or skip them entirely.



Exstreamist first reported this concept that consumer tolerance for adverting, especially on television, is drastically declining especially over the last four years. It makes complete sense, as if there are growing alternatives to being subjected to countless ads, so of course we as viewers would drift that direction. Netflix saves us from countless hours of commercials every year, which makes it easy to see why we'd all start changing our habits when watching television.



From NBC:



"Given that the commercial load was very similar to London, in fact less than London, we believe that consumption habits, such as binge-watching and 'marathoning,' have changed perceptions among the viewing audience regarding commercials"



They're not wrong. But what's the creative solution here? Broadcasting the Olympics is extremely expensive, certainly, but cramming it with countless ads clearly isn't going to cut it anymore.