From Zipping and Zapping to Clicking

Thirty years ago, advertisers were bemoaning the increase in zipping and zapping as consumers time-shifted their viewing habits and skipped the commercials. That was in the old VCR era. It continued into the DVR era, with media firms trying to find ways to put commercials in front of viewers, like it or not.

In more recent years, commercials have become a popular part of major TV events like the Super Bowl. Time recently published a list of the most influential Super Bowl ads "of all time." (That list was published before the Patriots won against the Falcons in February.)

For comparison, take a look at Entertainment Weekly's 50 best commercials list published 20 years ago, in 1997.

Now streaming has changed advertising, viewing patterns, and consumer behavior, again. And in an era when there are more choices (broadcast and cable channels, streaming services, YouTube, etc.) than ever before, many commercials are so entertaining that consumers voluntarily click to watch them.

Here's a link to YouTube's advertising leaderboard for January, 2017. Among the top commercials viewed on YouTube were several scheduled to air during the Super Bowl. No zipping, no zapping, but a lot of clicking to preview these ads before they air on TV.

* abbreviations: DVR = digital video recorder, VCR = videocassette recorder. To see what these gadgets used to look like, click on the links to check out their entries on Wikipedia.