Is TV Advertising Still Worth It? Evaluating Its Impact In The Digital Age

In a marketplace as crowded as today’s, companies cannot only have a good product; they must also have a good advertising campaign. They can choose between billboards, radio ads, social media ads, and so much more. Yet, the tried and true advertising method of today is television. TV commercials allow companies to promote their product visually as well as auditorily, essentially combining the effects of radio ads and billboards. The main drawback is the difficulty in determining how many people are actually watching the commercials. Paying for commercial airtime is only worth the price if companies can be certain that the audience reached causes an increase in revenue significant enough to offset the cost. In theory, this should be easy. Companies could analyze viewership trends and pay for the commercial slots that will generate the greatest viewership. In reality, this is much more difficult than it seems, as viewership does not tell the whole story. Additionally, many companies cannot afford to do this even if they wanted to, leaving them better suited to spend their money on other forms of advertising. 

Television commercials are a method of advertising that have been implemented by countless companies, reaching audiences across the country and across the world. Since the invention of the Television, the practice of TV advertising has become so widespread and effective that large corporations are willing to expend tremendous sums of money in exchange for small time slots in commercial windows. University of Chicago researchers Anna Tuchman, Bradley Shapiro, and Gunter Hirsch, conducted a study of 288 packaged consumer goods, all of which were well-known household products. Across all of the firms producing the 288 goods, $66 billion was spent on TV advertising, with a median expenditure of $10.5 million (Tuchman 2021). There are numerous options when it comes to where and when to purchase a commercial slot. With endless channels running around the clock, companies have no shortage of ad slots to pick from. Some channels and time slots are not expected to draw much attention, so it costs relatively little to advertise in those positions. Weekdays from the morning until mid-afternoon are one such window. As children are at school and adults are at work, the average ad at this time will receive little attention. Other channels and time slots that attract large viewerships cost much more to purchase. For example, the Super Bowl is well known for being an opportune time for effective advertising, with a staggering cost of $7 million for a mere 30 second slot in 2023. (Camphouse 2025). The cost for this time slot is high because the Super Bowl is one of the few events each year when companies can count on the fact that almost the entire nation will be focused on one broadcast, both for the game itself and for the higher quality of advertising. This cost is well-known, but the cost of writing and producing a commercial is lesser thought of. In order to make a memorable commercial, companies must invest in high-quality writing and directing, neither of which are cheap. Because the sum of these costs is great, commercials must be memorable and entice viewers to buy the product, requiring a high standard of memorability.  

Most people assume that the amount of money companies are willing to spend on television advertising is correlated with higher revenues. However, this train of thought is not entirely descriptive of the scenario. Companies are willing to make such a great investment only because they are confident that it will lead to increased revenues and profits in the future. In reality, it is much more difficult to know for certain if advertising is successful or not. The study conducted by Tuchman, Shapiro, and Hirsch found that “many managers admit that they do not feel super confident in their ability to measure the effectiveness of that advertising” (Tuchman 2021). Companies are not blindly throwing money into these commercials, but the process of computing the effectiveness of commercials is far from easy. Several factors play into the difficulty of measuring the correlation between investment in commercials and the revenue they generate. The number of TVs that viewed the commercial and the number of people that watched the commercial are entirely different measures. When it comes to counting viewership, “If the TV is on, the viewer is counted as being exposed” to the ad, “but you did not actually even notice it because you were so absorbed in your phone” (Tuchman 2021). Because the official viewership, and the number of people watching the commercial are different, it is challenging to get a real estimate of the audience reached. A home where one person is using their phone instead of watching a commercial and a home where five people are all watching a commercial count the same for official viewership, but the number of people paying attention to the commercials and absorbing the information that is being conveyed are quite different. Companies that invest the correct amount of time and money will be rewarded with greater revenues, while companies that are inefficient and negligent will experience losses. Achieving effective television advertising is becoming increasingly complex; companies must adjust their practices accordingly so as to not waste time, money, or effort. When done right, TV advertising can still be worth it. The bigger questions are how can you do it right and what are the alternatives if television advertising is not effective. 

Television advertising can be immensely beneficial to companies that can spend tons of money on commercial slots that are guaranteed to have high viewership numbers, but many companies are not afforded the same privilege, and some do not want to. Corporations who cannot or will not pay for the primetime commercial slots are better off investing in forms of advertising that are more closely correlated with revenues. Companies looking for alternatives to TV commercials are turning to online ads. One such form of advertising that is increasingly common is online ads. With more and more everyday activities moving from in-person to online, a huge opportunity has emerged for companies looking to maximize their profits while also being efficient with their advertising money. In turn, online advertising is becoming increasingly common. Many previously in-person activities have online alternatives that boast ease and convenience, such as shopping. This online transition coupled with the rise of many social media platforms has created a new market in which companies can advertise their products and services. Online advertising commands the strengths of television advertising, with the added benefit that it is easier to ensure that viewers are really seeing it, and according to the PropellerAds Blog, “While your campaign is still running, you will be able to see the results it is reaching and decide which optimization moves to make” (Golubovic 2025). The main critique of television advertising is the difficulty in tracking who watched the commercials; it is much easier to track viewership numbers for online ads. It is easy to ignore a television commercial by leaving the room, going to the bathroom, or picking up a cell phone. When the ad is on a phone or computer, it is harder to divert attention, as there is only so much space on the screen. Additionally, the website that is showing the ad is likely what an individual is using their phone or computer for, so the user is unlikely to leave the site. On the other hand, commercials are not what people turn on their TV for. On top of the difficulty of ignoring online ads, companies can utilize targeted advertising. According to AdRoll, targeted advertising works by showing users advertisements they are more likely to engage with based on their previous activity, hopefully increasing their likelihood of purchasing the product, “This is generally done by using customer data to segment audiences by factors such as basic demographics, shopping interests, or browsing behavior, and then creating unique advertisements tailored to each audience segment” (AdRoll 2025). Instead of producing a commercial and blindly sending it out to millions of people with no ability to gauge their interest in the product, companies can advertise to people who have previously shown a relevant interest. For companies who cannot or are not willing to spend on primetime commercial slots, targeted online advertising could give them a much larger return on their investment. 

When deciding what type of advertising to pursue, companies must deem their input costs as worth the resulting output. The worth of an advertisement is determined by its viewership compared with the time, effort, and money it took to create and broadcast. Thus, the commercial must be seen by enough people to increase purchasing of the product or service and either offset the production costs or turn a profit. Using the Super Bowl as an example, some companies may consider the price of seven million dollars too costly and anticipate a loss in revenue, but the vast audience of the Super Bowl makes a good counter argument. Purchasing commercial airtime during the Super Bowl has historically been a good investment because companies can guarantee that many people are watching the game and the commercials have become known for being especially entertaining and well-written. Companies who cannot or elect not to purchase advertising with events with as much publicity as the Super Bowl should turn their attention elsewhere. Other forms of advertising, namely online advertising, provide better tracking and a better guarantee of return on investment. Corporations with smaller budgets are better off weaponizing targeted online advertising than splurging on a Super Bowl commercial. 

References

Anna  Tuchman Associate Professor of Marketing. “TV Advertising Is Usually Not Worth It.” Kellogg Insight, June 3, 2021. https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/tv-advertising-is-usually-not-worth-it.

Golubovic, Marija. “Online Advertising: Types, Benefits + Tips and Insights.” PropellerAds Blog, January 23, 2025. https://propellerads.com/blog/adv-online-advertising/.

Meredith Cunningham   Published: March 6, and Meredith Cunningham. “Is TV Advertising Still Effective? : Tegna.” TEGNA Advertise. Accessed February 28, 2025. https://www.tegna.com/advertise/is-tv-advertising-still-effective/.

Team, Camphouse. “TV Advertising 101: From Costs to Benefits.” Camphouse, February 26, 2025. https://camphouse.io/blog/tv-advertising.

“What Is Targeted Advertising?” AdRoll. Accessed March 26, 2025. https://www.adroll.com/blog/what-is-targeted-advertising.