It’s increasingly difficult to reach audiences though traditional media like television.  While watching a string of commercials on TV, it’s easy for viewers to become distracted by their phone, empty stomach, people in the room, and so much more.  And with the recent option to digitally record television, the choice to manually fast forward through commercial breaks is a no brainer.  Now, Dish Network is taking this idea one step further.  With their addition of Dish Auto Hop, viewers watching prime time television shows from one of the four main broadcasting stations—CBS, ABC, NBC, or FOX—can choose to have dish cut out the commercials as if they were never there.

Dish prides themselves on this feature because it gives them a competitive advantage. However, this feature is causing plenty of controversy with the networks and the companies that advertise though them. The fact is, many companies need television commercials to reach their consumers. They spend a large sum of money to get their commercials on air, and the fact that people can choose to avoid them so easily is a concern.

What does all of this mean?  Quite simply, Auto Hop might cause television networks to take legal action against Dish Network. We’re big advocates of not putting all of your advertising eggs in one basket, so TV advertisers should have a backup plan in place. But what say you? Is Dish in the wrong here?

You may know you’re old when after a morning of mountain biking, meeting for lunch with your financial adviser and then watching the sun set over a lake with your significant other while sitting (for some weird reason) in separate old claw-foot bathtubs that you dragged out on the lawn — you just want to relax in front of some good old-fashioned TV. That is if you believe the latest TV viewer median age data gives you the complete picture.

Steve Sternberg, a media analyst, just released some new data showing that TV’s audience — which should be no surprise to anyone — is getting older. ABC’s median viewership is now 51, one year older than last season. CBS is now 55, also a year older. NBC is up two years, to 49. Fox is still at the kid’s table at 44. Ten years ago  ABC was 43, CBS was 52, NBC was 45 and Fox was just 35. That means the same viewers haven’t changed their habits. They’re just putting more candles on their birthday cakes.

It’s not quite fair to point fingers at broadcast either. Cable is in the same boat (or is that a clawfoot bathtub?). In fact, Fox News is the oldest channel of all time at 65 — surprisingly older than the Hallmark Channel, Military Channel and the Golf Channel. CNN is 63, MSNBC 59 and CNBC (oddly enough) 52. What’s the youngest fully distributed channel? Oxygen. Then Bravo, VH1 Classic, Travel and TLC. Their median age is about 42.

So what’s happening here? Why are younger people not watching TV anymore? Are they all on the Internet? Do you know many people who don’t have cable, satellite or fiber optic TV in their homes? Of course not. I think the problem lies within how younger people consume media and the way we currently collect data.

Learning how to be less loyal

Not that long ago broadcast television was king. There were three major channels. And then Fox. I remember when Fox took over WFLD in Chicago. My father dismissed the station out of hand — thinking it wouldn’t be around long. After all, how could it compete with three big juggernauts. As far as I was concerned it was great — why wouldn’t I want another programming option. Especially one with cutting edge shows like The Tracy Ulman Show (the birthplace of The Simpsons) and In Living Color.

The introduction of Fox wasn’t merely an extra channel. It was the beginning of new way to consume media. We were being taught that we didn’t need to be loyal. That’s confusing to networks; television programming is designed around loyalty, airing certian shows after other popular shows to gain viewership. Television was quickly turning into dim sum. Younger viewers now consume media in tasty little bites by surfing around, bouncing from channel to channel, show to show. Older viewers are more inclined to tune into a station and leave it there. Want physical and anecdotal proof? Two words: Fox News.

In other words younger viewers are more splintered. Not only do we have 50 channels to surf, we have social networking sites, YouTube, blogs and streaming television options like Hulu (which has a cluelessly designed, extremely limited and underutilized advertising model) and Netflix (with absolutely no advertising model). The current ratings model isn’t only skewing older, it’s skewing older and because of a relatively unsophisticated interpretation and collection of data, dangerously ignoring younger viewers. There needs to be even more sophisticated methods of measuring data across multiple television channels and alternative media at the same time — and a way to compile all that data into one massive profile analysis.

Pulling back and looking at a more complete picture is vitally important. For example: yes — older people may be signing up for social media sites like Facebook — but they’re not using those tools to their full advantage or frequently enough (learn more at our free webinar, Tuesday, August 17th at 12pm CST, titled Reaching Boomers Via Social Media). TV is still the best way to reach consumers over 45, but the larger picture is that they’re not alone. Make no mistake. Younger viewers are still watching TV. They’re just consuming it differently.

This Sunday the NFL shares the spotlight almost equally with advertisers who spend as much as $3 million for 30 seconds of airtime. That’s up 11% from last year. And production costs almost have no limit. You’ll see 2.5 minutes of 3-D commercials. You’ll see big stars like Conan O’Brien and Yo-Yo Ma and Pittsburgh Steelers player Troy Polamalu. You’ll even see commercials for commercials — special ads telling viewers to stay tuned for the 3-D spots just before halftime.

The fact is that Super Bowl commercials are luxury items, especially during this economy. FedEx and GM decided to skip this year. And Miller Brewing Company, rather creatively, somehow negotiated a 1 second ad with NBC. But there appears to be an emerging trend to create Super Bowl ads that are never intended to air. I think the trend started with Go Daddy’s 2005 steamy car wash ad — which actually was intended to air but was denied (even though it was really tame). Some smart marketers are capitalizing on the Super Bowl’s self-imposed puritanical code. They’ve figured out that they can create a “controversial” ad and run it on their website — and get free press.

In this PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) spot sexy girls get-it-on with veggies. Before we go too far, let’s be honest. PETA often gets in the way of their own messages quite a bit with a lot of boneheaded stunts. (And personally, I do enjoy a fresh salad — before my steak tartare with a fresh egg yolk on top.) However, this marketing move was smart. It speaks directly to the audience they want to reach: young high school and college students. And here’s the most intriguing part: it was done for a fraction of the cost of creating a real Super Bowl ad. Don’t think for a second that they ever expected it to be approved — I doubt PETA even has $3 million to spend on a spot.

Creating buzz around something doesn’t have to involve anything controversial — though that is the easier route. It just needs to be creative and topical enough for the press (and the public) to want to generate publicity about it. PETA could have released this ad at any time of the year, but by using the Super Bowl as a backdrop — and getting denied airtime by NBC with a perfect letter — they’ve given it more momentum. And that’s the key.

According to the Daily Online Examiner, only 58% of adults younger than 30 say they watch TV almost every day, while 23% of those under 20 say they watch television only a few times a week. That’s according to new research by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Among older adults, the numbers are higher. Seventy-two percent of people age 30-49 watch TV almost every day, as do 80% of those 50-64 and 89% of those 65 and older.

These stats make it clear that, while advertisers aiming to reach people older than 29 can still count on television, those trying to reach consumers in the 18-29 bracket need to consider placing ads elsewhere. Which is one reason why the faltering economy might not be completely devastating for online media. Yes, a struggling Yahoo is expected to lay off 1,500 workers this week. Yes, ad networks like AdBrite are shedding staff while others, like JellyCloud, are closing altogether. And, yes, some start-ups are in cost-cutting mode.

But, ultimately, consumers continue to spend time online, and advertisers have no realistic choice other than to follow them.

Independent of the Pew study, The Wall Street Journal recently wrote about the growing number of adults who have stopped paying for cable TV because they can watch any programs they want online. Presidential debates can now be streamed live, shows on cable channels like MTV are available for free streaming, and the best moments from “Saturday Night Live” can be viewed on demand at Hulu.com and NBC.com.

If people had already started canceling their cable subscriptions before the recent economic events, it’s easy to imagine that more will do so in a recession. And that means that Internet video, which already commands some of the highest CPMs out there, will grow in popularity. Current predictions are that the market could reach $1 billion by 2010, but that could turn out to be an underestimate if more people than expected stop watching TV.

Additionally, as people spend more time online, search advertising also is likely to continue to grow. Many Web users now view search engines, and not portals, as the gateway to the Web; when those people go online, they start at Google, Yahoo or another company’s search engine. Just last week, Google reported that second quarter profit grew 26%, showing that paid search is holding up very well, even as the rest of the economy teeters.