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That’s really the bad news for the sponsors. The remote is suddenly all too proximate! This great invention of our times has now infiltrated nearly 60 per cent of India’s 43 million cable and satellite homes, which incidentally are prime targets for advertisers. All these viewers can skip commercials at the press of a button to catch the action on other channels.

Numbers show they are doing it more and more. According to a recent study by television rating outfit TAM India, viewership of commercial capsules has been dipping and the gap between programme and commercials viewerships has more than doubled since ’02 to 19 per cent (see chart). Thus, a programme with a high rating does not guarantee commensurate viewership for the intervening commercials.

That presents a ticklish conundrum for advertisers, broadcasters and agencies that buy commercial slots. "We constantly keep talking about audience fragmentation as channel options grow and we move from broadcasting to narrowcasting," says P.V. Narayanmoorthy, the Asia-Pacific head of media buying agency Carat India. A debate is raging among the fraternity on how to juggle the number and duration of commercial breaks and ways to increase their viewership.

Advertisers are involving the programme-makers to make viewers stick. Several soaps put a twist in the tale just before the ad break. Some other programmes announce contests or ask trivia questions to keep the viewers hooked. A growing trend is to integrate advertising with programme content. "When you look for brand communication through advertising, you have to look beyond commercials at webbing brand communication with the programme itself," says Tam India CEO L.V. Krishnan. In the US, this is par for the course. American Idol, a reality show, includes Coke in its programming. HBO’s TV drama, Sex and the City, had Absolut Vodka in one of its episodes.

Indian content houses have been quick to take inspiration. Lately, serials like Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin and Kkusum have showcased products of Procter & Gamble, De Beers, Maruti, and Kellog’s. Jassi has gone a step further and pioneered the art of movie promotion through a TV serial. In one of its episodes, Saif Ali Khan made a special appearance as Hum Tum’s protagonist Karan Kapur. The Rasna brand got 30 mentions in one of the episodes of Carry on Shekhar on SABe TV, in which host Shekhar Suman asked his guest, the Rasna girl, to say ‘I love you Rasna’ in different ways.

However, two issues remain. One, the palatability of such integration is yet to be assessed. Integrated advertising has to be carefully weaved into the script. "My programming guys say advertising interrupts programming while the advertising guys say great programming makes for more advertising," says Sony Entertainment Television’s executive vice-president Sunil Lulla. Second, this integration cannot replace, only complement ads. Some channels have reduced the length of the ad breaks during movies. SET Max shows movies on Sunday afternoons with just one break. Sony’s six minutes of breaks for every 30 minutes of programming is among the lowest anywhere. "We have to guard viewers’ interest while providing value for money to the advertisers," says Lulla.

Perhaps advertisers can create entertaining commercials. But if that happens, viewers may complain that programming is interrupting entertainment!