Dollhouse

Fox’s "remote free TV" effort this year—which drastically cuts advertising time in two new prime-time shows, "Fringe" and "Dollhouse"—is not likely to continue next season.

According to a production executive close to the network, Fox will probably be ending the practice. "Financially, it wasn’t viable," says the executive. "It was a noble experiment; viewers enjoyed it." A Fox spokeswoman had no comment.

Under the "remote free TV" banner, which Fox announced during last year’s upfront event in New York City, "Fringe" and "Dollhouse" have witnessed a 50% cut in national TV advertising inventory—from 10 minutes per hour to five minutes. The effort was undertaken to keep viewers on Fox rather than switching to other channels.

Media agency executives had complained for decades about growing non-program clutter—national and local advertising as well as on-air promos for TV shows. Agencies and marketers roundly applauded Fox’s move last year.

Last fall, Fox released results showing that advertisers that have participated in Fox’s efforts for "Fringe" did see higher recall for their ads. Before each commercial break, Fox alerted viewers that upcoming commercial breaks had been shortened. Typically, Fox has been running just two 30-second commercials per commercial break.

But despite positive results from advertisers that participated in the effort, Fox got bogged down in dealing with a smaller pool of TV marketers that will pay a premium to be in a prime-time show with fewer commercials. Plus, Fox incurred some additional costs in producing extra content for the two-hour drama—about five minutes or so.

The cost per thousand viewers (CPMs) are some 25% to 30% higher for two shows compared with shows of similar appeal, according to one media executive. Initially, Fox was asking for a 50% premium.

Some of the advertisers on "Fringe" included Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers, Universal Pictures, American Express, Apple Computer, Verizon Wireless and Wal-Mart. Reports suggested that Fox was inking deals at $300,000 and more for a 30-second commercial in "Fringe."

Kevin Reilly, president of Fox Entertainment, told MediaPost during the Television Critics Association Winter tour in January: "Not all advertisers can pay that kind of premium. That’s the conundrum of advertisers. They don’t want clutter [but they don’t want to pay higher prices]."

Still, Reilly noted then that "playing with the inventory load is something we are going to do more [for programs]." He didn’t elaborate on details.

Next season, Fox may also look to continue to slow down channel-changing and/or DVR fast-forwarding of commercials.

Recently, Fox ran an on-air promo for "Lie To Me," in which actor Tim Roth looked straight into the camera with little or no movement. The show’s title also appeared on screen. It meant if viewers were fast-forwarding through a commercial break, they would get a fuller marketing effect for the show.