| It all began in the 1980's. Ronald Regan was president | | | | and fortune in the newly created infomercial industry. |
| and one of the many controversial things he did in that | | | | There was Jane Fonda who captured lightening in a |
| office was to deregulate the TV industry. Why did he | | | | bottle with her exercise tapes simultaneously boosting |
| do it? Well, as a conservative Republican he lived and | | | | the video business along with the infomercial business. |
| breathed by the "free market rule," which stated that | | | | There was Ron Popeil, who marketed every gadget |
| the government didn't belong in business, and | | | | and device people didn't even know they needed and |
| businesses should live and die by the success or | | | | made the switch from printed contact to electronic |
| failure of their own practices and market forces. | | | | contact so successfully he's still doing it today. And |
| At the same time, cable TV was just starting its | | | | there was Kenny Kingston who made the Psychic |
| expansion into the American television marketplace, | | | | Hotline into one of the largest businesses in the world |
| and that opened up a huge broadcast venue which | | | | without even having anything to sell! Only in America |
| simply didn't exist beforehand. Anybody with any | | | | and only in infomercials could such overwhelming |
| experience in the broadcast industry was starting his | | | | success happen so quickly. |
| own channel and pretty soon cable channels were | | | | Soon, everybody with an idea was trying to come up |
| commonplace. The most successful channels at the | | | | with the next big thing. As is always the case with any |
| time were religious based channels which were | | | | new industry, immediately following the initial success |
| basically used for fundraising purposes. There were | | | | there comes a huge wave of imitators and innovators |
| literally hundreds of them, from local, small time | | | | trying to cash in. And as always happens - most fail. |
| reverends and ministers with dubious backgrounds, to | | | | There was such a huge crush of wannabes flooding |
| nationally broadcast spiritual and religious shows, utilizing | | | | into the business that production rates skyrocketed |
| well-known religious figures. | | | | and broadcast time became more and more |
| At this point, two things happened. For one, many of | | | | expensive and less and less available. Almost |
| the young, fledgling channels and networks who | | | | overnight, the infomercial industry went from nothing to |
| counted on ad revenue to keep themselves afloat | | | | today's enviable haul of billions of dollars annually. And |
| attracted less than stellar ratings and starting going | | | | that's just in America. Successful infomercials, like |
| under. And at the same time, the religious channels | | | | Hollywood movies are translated into foreign |
| started to realize that their fundraising efforts were | | | | languages and played all around the globe especially |
| failing miserably in the late evening and wee hours of | | | | when they are celebrity driven. |
| the morning. | | | | The newly created infomercial industry was the |
| Cheap broadcast space was born! And enterprising | | | | precursor to the Home Shopping Network and QVC |
| businessmen, more like vultures than saviors, swooped | | | | which are essentially 24 hour mini infomercials, product |
| down and began to chew on the dying carcasses of | | | | driven, price driven and celebrity driven. And now we |
| the young cable industry, buying up blocks of cheap, | | | | have The Infomercial Channel - 24 hours a day of |
| late night, off peak broadcast time and running 30 | | | | infomercials. Gone are the days of loud mouthed |
| minute or 60 minute, inexpensively produced | | | | hucksters, snake oil salesmen yelling into the camera, |
| commercials refashioned as entertainment programs. | | | | hawking the latest "it slices! it dices!" home |
| Pretty soon there were infomercial superstars. | | | | improvement device. Today, infomercials are slick, |
| Celebrities, as well as a cast of unknowns, found fame | | | | expensive and if they work, highly profitable. |