It’s 1980. Denise Wymore graduates high school, the first Macintosh is released and the question “Who Shot JR?” was finally answered!

That was also the year the first Generation Y baby was born.

Television was their babysitter until they could be in control.

When they turned 3, Super Mario was born to entertain them – pull them away from TV and marketing. That same year Motorola introduced the first cell phone, which will soon become their boob tube.

By the time they entered the 4th grade the world wide web was in their world. An alarming number of adult Gen Yers do not subscribe to cable television OR have a land line. They are “off the grid” so to speak. The internet is their entertainment source and most of it is free.

But the fact is – commercials help pay for our Mad Men fix. So what will happen if we stop advertising?

 

Simple. We will literally “pay to view” what we want, when we want. It’s already there if you think about it. I can go to iTunes and download most television episodes, commercial free for a couple of bucks.  But I think it’ll get simpler than that.

Social media will wrap itself around fans and involve them in the program. No more archaic Nielsen ratings telling us what we can and can’t watch.

Cult-like devotion will keep a show running.  The more viewers are willing to pay – not advertisers – for a show, will determine its fate.

RIP Television advertising – you will be remembered every time I buy soap.