News Ticker during Commercial Breaks

We’ve all flipped to ESPN to check a score, and just when it’s about to appear on the bottom line, ESPN cuts to commercial. How annoying. And when the break ends, the bottom line is somewhere new, leaving a full cycle to get back to the score we want. Sure, the internet has the score, but we don’t all have the web in our pocket.

That’s why this week’s free idea is for ESPN, CNN and any other television networks with more information than their programming can cover.

Make your scrolling news ticker permanent. Extend it through the commercial breaks.

There’s a large chunk of your viewership that only checks your channel to view the scrolling bar anyway. Whether it’s for a score, stats or the latest new, they’re not there for your shows, but they’re still there. If you still want those people to stay with your station during a commercial break, put the news ticker at the bottom. The content will make those commercials bearable.

It may be argued that the scrolling bar will take attention away from the commercials, for which marketers have paid many pretty pennies. But this makes the same assumption that ratings make, that viewers simply sit quietly during commercials are wait for their program to return. The reality is that as soon as a commercial hits the air, viewers are changing the channel to find something to fulfill their constant need for engagement.

A scrolling news ticker throughout the commercial break will retain more viewers from segment to segment. A viewer that changes the channel obviously doesn’t see any ads, no matter what the ratings say. But a retained viewer is an actual viewer. Which do you think advertisers will prefer?

I know they know how. I’ve seen it rolled out for special events, like during the NFL draft last week. Commercials were played inside a frame of scrolling information.

ESPN, make your scrolling draft coverage permanent. I’ll sit through the ads if you give me something interesting to read.

Other channels, follow ESPN’s lead.

Until May 17th,
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Jonathan Rozen


On a personal note, I’ll be out of the country and away from all electronic devices for the next couple weeks. My next idea will be given away in three weeks, upon my return.