Media Selection for Advertisements
After determining the target audience for a product or service, advertising agencies must select the appropriate media for the advertisement．We discuss here the major types of media used in advertising．We focus our attention on seven types of advertising: television, newspapers, radio, magazines, out-of-home, Internet, and direct mail.
Television
Television is an attractive medium for advertising because it delivers mass audiences to advertisers．When you consider that nearly three out of four Americans have seen the show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ? you can understand the power of television to communicate with a large audience．When advertisers create a brand, for example, they want to impress consumers with the brand and its image．Television provides an ideal vehicle for this type of communication．But television is an expensive medium, and not all advertisers can afford to use it.
Television's influence on advertising is fourfold．First, narrowcasting means that television channels are seen by an increasingly narrow segment of the audience．The Golf Channel, for instance, is watched by people who play golf．Home and Garden Television is seen' by those interested in household improvement projects．Thus, audiences are smaller and more homogeneous (具有共同特点的) than they have been in the past．Second, there is an increase in the number of television channels available to viewers, and thus, advertisers．This has also resulted in an increase in the sheer number of advertisements to which audiences are exposed．Third, digital recording devices allow audience members more control over which commercials they watch．Fourth, control over programming is being passed from the networks to local cable operators and satellite programmers.
Newspapers
After television, the medium attracting the next largest annual ad revenue is newspapers．The New York Times, which reaches a national audience, accounts for $1 billion in ad revenue annually．It has increased its national circulation (发行量) by 40% and is now available for home delivery in 168 dries．Locally, newspapers are the largest advertising medium.
Newspapers are a less expensive advertising medium than television and provide a way for advertisers to communicate a longer, more detailed message to their audience than they can through television．Given new production techniques, advertisements can be printed in newspapers in about 48 hours, meaning newspapers are also a quick way of getting the massage out．Newspapers are often the most important form．of news for a local community, and they develop a high degree of loyalty from local readers.
Radio
Advertising on radio continues to grow．Radio is often used in conjunction with outdoor billboards (广告牌)and the Internet to reach even more customers than television．Advertisers are likely to use radio because it is a less expensive medium than television, which means advertisers can afford to repeat their ads often~ Internet companies are also turning to radio advertising．Radio provides a way for advertisers to communicate with audience members at all times of the day．Consumers listen to radio on their way to school or work, at work, on the way home, and in the evening hours.
Two major changes — satellite and Internet radio — will force radio advertisers to adapt their methods．Both of these radio forms allow listeners to tune in stations that are more distant than the local stations they could receive in the past．As a result, radio will increasingly attract target audiences who