CHAPTER 3

Spots:

Public Service Announcements, Program Promotions, and Commercials

Advertisers are the interpreters of our dreams…. Their weapons are our weaknesses: fear, ambition, illness, pride, selfishness, desire, ignorance. And these weapons must be kept bright as a sword.

—E. B. White, author and editor

Introduction

Short bursts of information spaced between and within programs on radio and television earned the nickname spots. Spots include three specific type of announcements: public service announcements (PSAs), program promotional announcements (promos), and sales advertising (i.e., commercials, or commls). Each type fills a specific purpose in broadcast communication, but all have in common the required task of selling an item, a ...

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