85. This article concludes that businesses using commercial television to promote
their products will achieve the greatest advertising success by sponsoring only highly-
rated programs―preferably, programs resembling the highly-rated non-commercial
programs on public channels. Supporting this claim is a recent study indicating that
many programs judged by viewers to be high in quality appeared on noncommercial
networks, and that the most popular shows on commercial television are typically
sponsored by the best-selling products. This argument is weak because it depends on
three questionable assumptions.
The first of these assumptions is that non-commercial public television programs
judged by viewers to be high in quality are also popular. However, the study cited by the
author concerns viewer attitudes about the high quality of programs on
noncommercial public television, not about their popularity. A program might rate
highly as to quality but not in terms of popularity. Thus, the author unfairly assumes that
highly-rated public television programs are necessarily widely viewed, or popular.
The argument also assumes that programs resembling popular non-commercial
programs will also be popular on commercial television. However, the audiences for the
two types of programs differ significantly in their tastes. For example, a symphony
series may be popular on public television but not as a prime-time network show,
because public-television viewers tend to be more interested than commercial-television
viewers in the arts and higher culture. Thus, a popular program in one venue may be
decidedly unpopular in the other.
A third assumption is that products become best-sellers as a result of their being
advertised on popular programs. While this may be true in some cases, it is equally
possible that only companies with products that are already best-sellers can afford the
higher ad rates that popular shows demand. Accordingly, a lesser-known product from a
company on a smaller budget might be better off running repeated but less expensive―
ads on less popular shows than by running just one or two costly ads on a top-rated
show.
In conclusion, the results of the cited study do not support the author s conclusion.
To better evaluate the argument, we need to know the intended meaning of the phrase
highly-rated. To strengthen the argument, the author must limit his conclusion by
acknowledging that popularity in public television might not translate to popularity in
commercial television, and that the best advertising strategy for companies with best-
selling products may not be feasible for other businesses.