"The Internet won't replace television; it isn't designed to be the tribal campfire," said Reshet Television deputy CEO for marketing, commerce & business development Ilan Tovyahu at today's "Globes" Marketing and Communications Conference in Tel Aviv. "To make a return on a $100,000 investment you need one million viewers. We can do this cheaply, efficiently, and economically."
Reshet is one of the two Channel 2 franchisees. Tovyahu added that Reshet's original programming, such as "A Star is Born" (the Israeli version of "American Idol"), reached hundreds of thousands of views a day.
Tovyahu said, "Cellular and Internet providers cannot undertake productions on the scale of television. People will continue to watch the small screen." He said that television would continue to lead partly because viewers don’t have the patience to watch the tiny screens on cellular devices for long.
Tovyahu provided different Internet viewing data than a fellow panelist. Tovyahu estimated that only 5,000 surfers watched the season premiere of sitcom "Life isn't everything", which was aired online.
Second Broadcasting Authority for Television and Radio director general Menashe Smirra said, "Anyone seeking sex, drugs, and violence has to look for the material and click on the site. Television has to be like a mall. It can only offer broad content that doesn’t put off the public. Ultimately, television has to be responsive to the public.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 14, 2008
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008