There's always some new technology in editing, graphics, and on-air playback to make on-air promos better, faster, and more effective. But, for all the power offered by a $100,000 editing system, the most important technology is the $2 remote control. More than ever, viewers can easily bounce around a host of channels. The challenge for network promo departments is simple: Make them stay. Stations and cable networks routinely use new tricks to hype what's next. Some networks squeeze and speed up movie credits to save time and space for promotion. Others use "snypes," which briefly flash the name of a program corning soon. But any tactic, if overdone, can alienate the audience. Grabbing and keeping viewers is what the Pro-max&BDA conference, taking place June 23-25 in New York, is all about. Conference attendees are divided between professionals who produce dramatic-series spots and those who work in the nitty-gritty of news production. For both groups, new tools and ideas are keeping viewer's minds on content-and not the remote control.
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