After the Time Machine controversy surrounding Meredith Broadcasting Group, specifically WSMV in Nashville, TN, one advertising agency is sending out a strong warning. Rubin Postaer and Associates, a California agency handling Honda, Acura, VH-1 and others, has issued a document stating commercials aired during a Time Machine modified program will not be paid for.
The letter asks the general managers at Meredith stations to sign and fax it back to the agency's office. The letter reads in part, "By signing this communication, you therefore acknowledge that Rubin Postaer and Associates will not pay for any commercial units that air in altered programming due to the use of the Time Machine or any compression technology."
Kathy Crawford, chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, says she wants to hear Meredith Broadcasting either confirm or deny the use of the Time Machine. She also says she wants to know if the company plans on implementing Time Machine use into all of its stations, if it's not already, and if the execs plan on continuing its use. Crawford says the company's response will determine what actions she and the organization take, if any, against Meredith Broadcasting.
Action taken against Meredith, if any, could include a fine and/or loss of business. Media buyers responsible for placing commercials could shop around Meredith as a result.
Industry professionals question the use of a Time Machine as ethical and even its effect on the advertising world as a whole. A Time Machine deletes duplicate frames, decreasing a program's length and allowing more commercial inventory to be added.
This results in more advertising clutter when more local commercials are added. National commercials are also cut with the use of a Time Machine, causing national advertisers to not receive the air time they've paid for.
Most networks have written contracts with affiliates saying a Time Machine cannot be used. Under extreme circumstances, a local station could lose its network affiliation for using a Time Machine but, more likely, a fine would be imposed if any action at all is taken.
The Time Machine talk picked up when a local reporter in Nashville, TN, discovered WSMV's programming had extra local commercial time squeezed into prime time programming. NBC has already discovered an extra 30 seconds of local time added to West Wing. The peacock network has ordered 28 days of programming from WSMV to conduct a further investigation.
