Product Placement Down 14.8% But Still Incredibly Prevalent

The number of product placements on television declined in the first half of the year, according to a report, but the reason does not seem to be because the practice is falling out of favor.

According to the Nielsen Product Placement Service, part of the Nielsen Company, there were 204,919 product placements on broadcast and cable TV in the first half, down 14.8 percent from 240,553 in the same period a year ago.

The figures break out this way: Placements on broadcast networks actually rose, by 11.7 percent, to 48,223 from 43,155, while they fell on cable channels, by 20.6 percent, to 156,696 from 197,398.

Regardless of the trends, the numbers still reflect the enormous degree to which brands are woven into the plots of shows.

Read the whole story here.