po-up-razzi

James A. Landau <JJJRLandau@netscape.com> JJJRLandau at NETSCAPE.COM
Tue Nov 17 20:49:17 UTC 2009


"pop-up-razzi" is very likely a nonce phrase invented by the writer of the following article, but a few other apparently-standard terms also appear.

http://channels.isp.netscape.com/news/story.jsp?floc=ne-story-9-l5&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20091117%2F1152192694.htm&sc=1310

A growing TV cover-up: Obnoxious pop-up promos

By FRAZIER MOORE
AP Television Writer

<snip>
And what about TBS, where ``Freakin' Sweet!'' is an on-screen message plugging ``Family Guy'' episodes available on that network's Web site: ``Very Funny'' is TBS' motto. Nothing funny about those cover-ups for its comedies.
Viewers don't forget. Viewers still cite the giant fireball, complete with a whooshing inferno sound, erupting on the screen to promote FX's firefighter drama ``Rescue Me.'' It makes them mad to even think about it.
That promo hasn't aired in two years, says FX spokesman John Solberg. Since then, the network has moved toward making ``our air look cleaner, more theatrical,'' generally opting for a single line of promotional text that appears on-screen for about 10 seconds.
So maybe all is not lost to the pop-up-razzi.

<snip>
An industry term for these ads is ``one-thirds.'' More telling terms include ``snipes'' and ``violators.'' But they began innocently more than two decades ago, when CNN applied a small identifying logo (or ``bug'') to the bottom right corner of the screen.

<snip>
The only question for the networks after that has been: Just how big, protracted, animated and noisy can we make those promos before viewers flee to places like Netflix and Hulu, and take that one-third back?


      - James A. Landau

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