Fox wants to shrink the ad time on its channels to just two minutes per hour by 2020, the company told media buyers and advertisers last week.
“The two minutes per hour is a real target for Fox, and also our challenge for the industry,” Ed Davis, chief product officer for ad sales at Fox Networks Group, told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. “Creating a sustainable model for ad-supported storytelling will require us all to move.”
“We did reduce ad time by 75 percent in FX Originals on-demand last year, and saw great effectiveness in brand lift,” he added. “We are tuning our approach with the new targeting and ad products so we can scale more widely.”
Fox Networks Group (FNG) ad sales boss Joe Marchese first set the lofty goal at a private industry event it held in Los Angeles for advertisers, buyers and rival network executives.
A mere two minutes worth of commercials would be a big change: On broadcast last year, the average amount of ad time per hour was just over 13 minutes, according to Nielsen. Add three more minutes to that for cable, like FNG’s FX.
Such a major reduction in commercial time would necessitate a big price-hike for 15, 30 and 60-second (or 120 seconds, if you want the whole shebang) spots. Fox is hoping the economic rules of supply and demand will keep its advertising revenue steady.
Marchese’s push follows Linda Yaccarino’s: Last week, the NBCUniversal ad guru announced plans to cut commercial time across her networks by 20 percent this fall.
NBCU will also launch a new 60-second contextually-programmed “Prime Pod” during the first or last break of a show dedicated to up to two advertisers, however.
Fox and FNG did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on this story.
17 Times 'The Simpsons' Predicted the Future (Photos)
"The Simpsons" has an eerie knack for predicting the future, from Donald Trump's presidency to U.S. beating Sweden for an Olympic gold medal in curling. Here are 14 times the long-running comedy series got it right.
Lady Gaga
On the episode "Lisa Goes Gaga," Lady Gaga is shown suspended by cables flying over the audience at a concert. Well surprise, surprise because at the Super Bowl LI's halftime show, Gaga descended from the stadium's roof with suspension cables wearing pretty much the same outfit on her episode.
Fox
2016 Nobel Prize Winner
In a 2010 episode, Milhouse predicted that Bengt R. Holmstrom would win the Nobel Prize in Economics and, sure enough, in 2016 Holmstrom and Oliver Hart were announced as joint winners of the prize.
Fox
Siegfried and Roy Tiger Attack
In 1993, an episode titled "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)," magicians in a Siegfried and Roy-like show got attacked by their trustworthy tiger.
In 2003, Roy was attacked by one of their white tigers during a live performance. He sustained injuries, but lived.
Fox
Arnold Palmer
On the 28th season premiere, the satirical series made an Arnold Palmer joke... on the day that golfer Arnold Palmer died.
Homer Simpson tells his wife Marge that he plans to “Arnold Palmer” his pal Lenny.
“Arnold Palmer Lenny?” Marge responds. “You’re going to Arnold Palmer Lenny?”
He was of course referring to the lemonade and iced tea drink mixture -- which was named after the golfer.
Fox
Faulty Voting Machine
During the 2012 elections, a voting machine proved faulty when votes cast for Barack Obama went to Mitt Romney instead.
In a 2008 episode, Homer Simpson went to the voting booths to cast a vote for Obama, but... his vote went to McCain instead.
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Higgs Boson
In a 1998 episode, "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace," Homer writes out an equation on a chalkboard which, if solved, “you get the mass of a Higgs boson that’s only a bit larger than the nano-mass of a Higgs boson actually is," says Simon Singh, science author.
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Horse Meat Scandal
In 1994, an episode titled "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song," the lunch lady was seen reaching into a barrel labeled "assorted horse parts" and putting the meat into the school's lunch pot.
In 2013, it was reported that traces of horse DNA was found in beef products across the UK.
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Guitar Hero
The now basically extinct but once popular video game Guitar Hero was first released in 2005.
But in a 2002 "The Simpsons" episode, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards give Homer a jacket that has "guitar hero" printed on the back of it.
Fox
Farmville
The virtual reality game, Farmville, was all the craze in 2009 with people rushing home from work or school to tend to their farm.
In a 1998 episode, "The Simpsons" shows a scene were kids are excited to play in a yard work simulator.
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Old Beatles Letters
In Season 2's episode 18, "Brush With Greatness," Ringo Starr from the Beatles is shown responding to fan letters while saying: "They took the time to write me, and I don’t care if it takes me another 20 years. I’m going to answer every one of them."
Well, two women in England received a reply to their fan mail form Sir Paul McCartney 50 years later.
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Smart Watches
Sorry Apple, but "The Simpsons" had smart watches first.
In a 1995 episode in which the show is set in the future, Lisa's husband is shown speaking to a phone on his wrist.
The first smartwatch wasn't created until 2013.
Fox
Disney Owns Fox
Back in 1998, a quick scene in "The Simpsons" showed 20th Century Fox as "a Division of Walt Disney Co." And in March 2019, Disney completed its $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s film and TV assets.
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U.S. Wins an Olympic Gold Medal in Curling
In 2010, Homer and Marge beat Sweden and took home an Olympic gold medal for Team U.S.A. in Mixed Match Curling. As the animated sportscaster said, "Open your history books, tear out the pages and put this indelible Olympic moment in."
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Murder Hornets and Coronavirus
In a 1993 episode, a Japanese factory worker accidentally spreads the contagious "Osaka Flu" to Springfield, and in the town peoples' rush to find a cure, they accidentally knock over a van with killer bees inside. The spread of "murder hornets" in America has coincided with the coronavirus in 2020. The coincidence was first noticed by former "Simpsons" writer Bill Oakley.
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Donald Trump Presidency
17 years ago in an episode titled "Bart to the Future" shows Lisa as president after Donald Trump apparently ruined the economy.
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Ted Cruz's Cancun Trip
In the 1993 episode "Marge in Chains," Springfield Mayor Joe Quimby gives a press conference announcing there's a pandemic happening -- and letting residents know he didn't escape to the Bahamas during the disaster. It's later revealed that Quimby is just wearing a suit from the waist up and is actually broadcasting from a beach in swim shorts. Fans were quick to point out it's an almost identical situation to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's recent escape attempt to Cancun.
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From Donald Trump’s presidency to Disney buying Fox to the spread of ”murder hornets“
"The Simpsons" has an eerie knack for predicting the future, from Donald Trump's presidency to U.S. beating Sweden for an Olympic gold medal in curling. Here are 14 times the long-running comedy series got it right.
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