I have a very narrow band of interest in television. As a result, I do not watch much television. What appreciation I have is limited to news, fake news, and educational shows. When I do watch the boob tube, I do not really mind commercials in their current form -- I have to go to the bathroom at some point.

The problem isn't so much the screen time or the amount of attention paid to the advertisement, it is convincing the person that the product is worthwhile. The time honored approach is sex appeal, e.g., "if you buy this, you will have sex with supermodels." However, that only works on a slim, horny, percent of the population. Now, if they took that same supermodel, stuck her in a store next to the product, results might be a bit more visible.

Half the battle in convincing someone of the value of a product is convincing them that it is relevant for them. I find that at best one commercial in ten is relevant to me. The answer is more directed advertising.

I saw a recent article (via Digg), about ABC discussing just that. The responses were typical: "better content or I'll pirate it," "give me freedom or give me... something shiny." The only viable solution is for both parties to meet somewhere in the middle. Here are a few possible solutions I came up with:

Possible:

1. First and Foremost - Put all the ads at the beginning of the content, watch a few ads before watching what you actually care about.
2. Product Placement - This is quite the opposite of product pounding. It is more subliminal, and perhaps just as effective. There was a New Scientist article about subliminal advertising earlier this year.
3. Show Specific - Target advertisements to the show that they interrupt. Tampax and Star Trek do not mix as well as Star Trek and Xbox 360.

Less-Likely:

1. Choose Your Own Adv...ertisement - Pick from a list of possible commercials to watch.
2. Watch Once - This is primarily targeted at DVR users, watching the advertisements "pays” for the show and skips the commercials for future viewings.
3. Pay Per View - Pay a small amount to remove all the ads. Pay more for the Super Bowl (why you'd want to skip them escapes me) and less for re-runs of The Waltons.

Yeah, Right:

1. Episode Exact - Target advertisements to particular episodes of a show. This would require a lot more effort, but might prove to be more effective. For instance, the classic Seinfeld episode The Restaurant might be aired alongside commercials for actual Restaurants. Connecting content and commercials would go a long way to making them seem relevant.
2. Individual Advertisements - Optional user surveys, and thus receiving ads for things you care about. I really wonder how many people are interested in Pure Dell Xenon Servers while watching Desperate Housewives. At the same time, I'm not likely to be buying a new car in the indefinite future; there's something about being a poor college student.
3. Ultimate Solution - This will be one incorporating several of these ideas. Better yet, giving users the option of selecting what advertisement delivery mechanism is best for them.

The bottom line is that advertisements are what support the great television behemoth. Compromise is essential on both ends to maintain this "valuable" medium. However, the one caveat is that few of these solutions are possible given the current broadcast technologies.

Only when IP-TV, or something like it, become a reality will many of these solutions be viable. Some ideas, like increasing product placement and pushing all the commercials to the beginning, are certainly plausible and becoming increasingly likely as companies explore new possibilties.

What do you think the future of television commercials should be?

Note:
This article was written in response to this article about ABC discussing disabling the fast forward button on DVRS. As I was finishing this, I discovered the recent Wall Street Journal article on what real companies are doing now.