Free TV Services: What’s the Real Cost to a Medical Office or Business?

“There’s no such thing as a free lunch,”
and there’s no such thing as a free TV service.

Nothing is Free, Including TV

If you’re using a TV service or platform that’s free, sooner or later you’re going to feel the cost of it; even if you didn’t put a single cent down. Even a homemade slideshow, or video that only cost the time it took to make it can bring detriment in the long run. The structure of such a video or slideshow may stand out as unprofessional and tacky; doing more harm than good.

What’s the Cost of TV?

Cost runs a little deeper than money. The initial cost of cable, for example, might be a some-hundred dollar subscription for an inclusive package – but that’s not all there is to it. There are many hidden costs of running cable in your business. The lack of program control, contributing to visitor anxiety or showing competitor ads all can harm your business.

Everything has a cost, but not everything has a strong level of return. Cable is an expense that gives nothing back. Industry-specific TV providers, like the ones often seen in medical offices, benefit pharmaceutical companies while showcasing drug ads and medical information that tends to raise anxiety among patients.

What’s the Alternative?

You can do better than free. Business owners are moving away from paying for TV as a utility, and are instead putting It’s Relevant TV in place to generate revenue from their TVs.

It’s Relevant is an alternative to cable that is less expensive, gives you control over what appears on your TV, and is comprised of short-form content that’s family-friendly and structured with business settings in mind. The service gives you access to a living TV network, not a loop or slideshow, that pulls videos from a vast library of licensed TV programs. It’s interesting and fun.

The IRTV platform generates new revenue by promoting additional services, specials, and events that people might not have been aware of. The service represents a significant return on investment (ROI), and is focused on customer retention – getting customers to spend more, and come back more often. So while there is a monthly subscription cost, the value and benefits far outweigh it.

For a personal look into how It’s Relevant can draw in more business for your business, check out our ROI Calculator and see for yourself how much of a return you can expect from our service.

“Cut the S**T ” – Don’t Expose Your Visitors to Profanity & Inappropriate Content

Profanity, graphic imagery, and other questionable content is present just about everywhere you look. It’s in the news, your favorite TV shows and movies, and &#@% it if it isn’t in this sentence.

But not in your Family-Friendly Business, Right?

Profanity and other such explicit materials are, for the most part, censored on network TV. This is thanks to FCC regulations. But all networks, especially the cable ones, are starting to push the boundaries a bit. And as they do, you run a greater risk of showing things that may turn off your customers.

IRTV Vlog – Friday January 12, 2018:

When you’re eating out at a family restaurant, or waiting to see a doctor, or even getting your car serviced. In all of those instances, there’s almost always a TV hanging in sight. And rightly so, because what’s more comforting and familiar than television? Turn it on, tune to the news, and your visitors see this…

Profanity on CNN — CNN – July 10, 2017 – 4:52 PM ET (Captions were NOT turned on. The displayed text is part of the broadcast)

Now after a warranted spit-take you might ask yourself, “how did this happen?” – It’s the afternoon and not only are bad words being spoken, but they are also being written on the screen.

Jake Tapper, the CNN anchor and host of this segment did warn viewers saying “We have to warn you some of the language you are about to hear is explicit and might be disturbing…” But what can your customers do? Tell the kids to “look away” or just leave the room entirely? It’s 4:52PM in the afternoon and they are stuck, watching something you never intended for them to see.

Then, more recently on the morning of August 4th, we caught this one live on the air at 8:52AM. A guest known for using the F word, uses the F word and the network admits that it could have been avoided:

A Realization for Business Owners

The important realization: you don’t have control over what appears on your TV. As business owners you can only have so much power over what’s shown on your screen. Sure enough, you can choose which channel is playing, but have no control over the programming within. Without control or the assurance that what’s going to come on is family friendly, you run the risk of exposing your customers, clients, and anyone else who visits your business to things you might not want them to see or associate your brand with. Like…

Profanity on Business TV — CNN – July 10, 2017 – 4:52 PM ET

It’s unlikely that any respectable business owner would willingly show a story with such strong expletives, or profane content to his or her visitors – but that’s the risk of running cable television in your business. You don’t know what’s going to come on.

Cable TV Alternative for Businesses

It’s Relevant TV is the cable alternative for businesses. It gives you control over what plays on your TV. It’s a service designed for your business televisions. Our vast living-library of television content is risk-free, filtered, and family friendly – you don’t have to worry about people being exposed to anything you don’t want them to see. Even the daily news that’s delivered is done so without the blood/guts/gore that we see more and more on network TV. You control what content your visitors see based on which categories you choose – all while educating them on services you offer and getting them engaged with your social media.

YouTube Advertisements Result in Bad Brand Exposure

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”

Why are name brands like AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, Starbucks, Verizon, and Walmart running away from YouTube? This isn’t a joke with a rhetorical answer like “to get to the other side,” it’s a serious question. These brands, and more, have recently pulled their advertising dollars from the world’s largest online video platform.

YouTube. That endless sea of news, music videos, TV clips, and shameless original content you’ve come to know and love. If you’ve watched anything on YouTube in the last 10 years, then chances are you’ve been slapped with that scrolling yellow bar signifying how long you have until you can actually watch your video. You can thank advertisers for the wait.

If you’ve got a product you’re looking to advertise, it only makes sense to put it where people are going to see it. People at home watch the TV, so you’ve got television ads. People spend a long time driving on the highway, so you see big billboards and hear ads on the radio. And then you have people spending countless hours online – so of course you can put it there. A no-brainer, right? What could possibly go wrong? A lot in fact, as we’ve seen in the news over the past week.

What happens when that ad of yours winds up in front of a video you didn’t expect? Normally, you might pick and choose which videos you want your ad to run on because you’re trying to reach out to the sorts of people who watch that content and might be interested in what you’re selling. But the marvel that technology and “interest targeting” have created just might throw you a curve ball.

YouTube Ads put your brand’s image at risk.

There’s a lot of content out there. A lot. Too much for any one person to sit down and meticulously sift through, especially when a computer can do it for you based on data that’s been collected. Youtube is a prime example of a company that relies upon technology to sort through the 400 hours of video uploaded to it every minute. But no human being is actually watching all of the videos for quality control. That’s when this happens:

“…T-Mobile ads on videos about abortion, Minecraft banners on videos about snorting cocaine and pre-roll ads for Novartis heart medication running on clips titled “Feminism is cancer…”

That was an excerpt taken from an article posted on The Guardian regarding the recent rise in advertisements being pulled off YouTube – having taken them no longer than fifteen minutes of browsing videos to find what they did. And if you’re an advertiser, you likely see the big problem here.

Who could have foreseen your ad for a new car being featured on a video too explicit for me to mention without losing my job. Or your ad for a new seasonal sandwich deal being played before a video featuring the 10 Most Disgusting Foods People Eat. You get the idea. You didn’t intend on your ad being associated with the lewd or otherwise unfavorable content it was bundled with. It doesn’t matter if your product has nothing to do with the associated content, or if you’re not endorsing the following message whatsoever – a connection is being made by the viewers that you don’t have control over.

Here is a video about the issue from CBS, ironically found on Youtube:

It’s Relevant TV gets your video ads to the right people while removing the risk.

It’s Relevant TV removes the chance of your ad being shown before a lewd or inappropriate video by having only family-friendly videos on the platform. To avoid the risks associated with machine filtering, It’s Relevant TV adds and approves videos 100% manually. A real human being sees each and every video before it goes out on the It’s Relevant TV network.

The FCC protected you from associating your brand with extremely bad content on television for years, by not allowing certain types of content to be broadcast at all. But the same can’t be said for the internet. Anyone can post anything on YouTube and before illegal/inappropriate/controversial videos have a chance to be flagged and taken down, an advertiser’s message can be seen connected to them.

Take your video advertisements to a safer place. Get in touch with It’s Relevant TV for more information. The rates are comparable to YouTube, while putting ads on screen in public places.

Dentist Offices: Playing the Waiting Game

“The waiting, is the hardest part…”

-Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

You don’t need to appreciate classic rock to agree that waiting rooms take their toll on more than just time. We’ve all been there, the rows of padded chairs with wooden armrests, the piles of magazines, the TV, and the plant in the corner that may or may not be plastic. It’s these elements, and more, that make up the traditionally dull waiting room experience we know so well.

But does it have to be dull?

Sure enough, plenty of businesses and offices work hard figuring out how to make a waiting room more inviting, and put forth a lot of effort into improving their lobbies for their clients. But no matter where you go, whenever you end up having to wait for more than a few minutes you’ll likely see a TV.

And there’s a reason for that. TVs are an effective distraction. TVs draw people’s attention, and they’re a familiar element that we’re used to looking at on a daily basis – providing a quiet atmosphere with the comfort and white noise of what’s on. While televisions are great in that respect, there are many reasons that cable and satellite TV are not the best options for your office.

When you’re waiting to be seen by someone, you aren’t necessarily invested in a long program when you’re expecting to miss some, or most of it, as soon as you’re called away. And in the case of having the TV turned to any one station or giving visitors control over the remote, with a waiting room full of people it’s impossible to cater to them all and it’s likely that someone is going to get alienated.

So what’s a business owner to do about that?

It’s Relevant TV for Dentists and It’s Relevant TV for Medical Offices work to address those issues and more. Each custom TV network airs original content pulled from a vast library of categories tailored specifically for the practice it’s in. The segments run for two and a half minutes on average – meaning they’re brief enough to cater to an audience with limited focus, and the categories are varied enough that everyone is bound to see something that interests them on some level.

IRTV compliments an atmosphere in which people are looking for a distraction and aren’t there to be entertained. Going beyond aired content, the service can also be used to reach out to those people in waiting. Posts, photos, and even videos from your social media can be uploaded and played for visitors to see.

Whether you’re introducing your staff, highlighting local events, or even showcasing other services your business provides; it’s worth taking a look at: It’s Relevant TV.

Dental Education Through TV: Brushing Up on Hygiene

“Brush your teeth twice a day, for two minutes. Once in the morning, and again before bedtime. And don’t forget to floss…”

– Every Dentist & Mother

The words every kid grows up hearing a thousand times. The very same words people often seem to forget despite the constant reminders. How is it that kids, and even some adults, throw oral hygiene out the window and neglect this most basic routine?

It all comes down to delivery. Good oral hygiene starts at home, and extends to the dentist’s office. From parents passing on good habits to their kids to dentists educating them on proper dental care. But how do you do it? How do you get the message across and stress the importance of taking care of your teeth? Aside from the words we all know, dentists use a number of aids to educate patients.

Post-visit, your dentist might sit with you one-on-one and go over the proper ways to brush your teeth. They might ask what kind of toothbrush, or brand of toothpaste you’re using, if you’re flossing, etc; maybe they even pull out that big pair of plastic teeth. Some dentists even hand out brochures on dental care or have them available in the lobby for all to see. And in this age of technology, you might even find blogs written by the dentists you visit.

But how effective is that in the long run?
Are patients seeing your content?

Reaching the patients is the key

Without being able to reach patients effectively you can’t pass on whatever it is you’re trying to say. It’s Relevant TV provides a unique and alternative solution to this problem…

Offices, waiting rooms, and even operatories, are often equipped with a television. Dentists’ TVs are usually tuned into something like the news, weather, or a talk show for white noise or casual comfort. In short, a custom Dental TV can run those same kinds of programs for less than it costs to run basic cable – and do more for your practice at the same time. With It’s Relevant, you can not only air those key channels, you can run original content you yourself produced and show it to the world.

Have a video introducing your doctors, or staff? A lovely office tour of the practice featured on your website? You could have that aired on your waiting room’s television – as well as any promotions or events you want to share with your patients. Connect with them, and present a more welcoming experience through a dental television network.

So going back to oral hygiene and getting the message across, how is TV a better platform for this? The answer is pretty straightforward, people watch TV. They watch it, and they pay attention to it – sometimes moreso than face to face.

TV has a lasting impact

Speaking from my own personal experiences, I recall a time years ago when I was young and my mother was bringing me to a new dentist. And in her motherly attempt to relieve me of anxiety, she casually mentioned that the dentist I was going to see “Has a TV in his office, so you can watch it during the visit.”

The comfort and distraction that the TV provided turned an otherwise dreadful experience into something less so, which is precisely why it was there in the first place, and are often found in waiting rooms and operatories today.

As a kid, or even an adult, that period of time in which you are at the dentist, you are always looking for something to take your mind off of what’s going on. The patient is invested, and focused – and can be entertained and informed with the programs you choose to put on the TV.

If you’d like to create a better environment for your patients, and connect with them more, it can be as simple as changing the channel on your TV. Schedule a free consultation with one of our TV experts to help reach your goals. You can call 203-588-0994 or email: sales{at}itsrelevant.com to set up a conversation.

Waiting Room Makeover: Controlled By an iPhone App?

It can take a long time to create a waiting room environment that you are 100% happy with for your visitors. You want people to feel comfortable, to be entertained, and also to be informed about all you have to offer. Buying thousands of dollars of furniture, changing the lighting, updating music and even creating the scents are some of the ways businesses and professionals are altering their environments. But what if there were an easier way to transform your space? And what if major changes could be made inexpensively from a smartphone app? It sounds like a fantasy, but it is now a reality.

The Easy & Inexpensive Solution

Televisions are the focal point of most waiting areas, but until now there was no way strategically integrate one in your environment. Introducing: It’s Relevant TV for iOS. Businesses and their employees can now personalize and control the content displayed on their televisions directly from their iPhones. The new application paired with a $99/month subscription allow professionals to take control. Ideal for hospitality businesses including medical offices, hotels, restaurants, and sports arenas, It’s Relevant TV helps businesses easily take control of the programming displayed on their televisions, while influencing visitor satisfaction, purchasing decisions and social media followership.

“It’s Relevant TV does exactly what our name says. We empower business owners to control the TVs and make the programming relevant to their customers,” said Jonathan Krackehl, CEO of It’s Relevant TV. Waiting is a part of any service business, but it doesn’t have be a point of frustration for yours. “Up until now most businesses have done one of two things: Either they chose a cable television station loosely relevant to their business, or they displayed a video or image loop that became redundant after a couple repetitions.”

Making the “Wait” Less of a “Weight” on Your Visitors

The company, Software Advice, asked more than 5-thousand people to rate how they felt about wait times. 64% said the wait would be more bearable with a TV in the waiting room. Participants in the study chose television over free food and beverages and even access to WiFi. “ TV that shows interesting content alongside a business’ messaging makes both the customers and the business happier,” according to Krackehl.

What Can You Control?

It’s Relevant TV provides simple controls for all aspects of their screen displays. It is simple for you to chose the video content that is relevant to your customers. The company’s experienced editors compile diverse, timely and interesting content and organize it into 40+ categories, ranging from general health, travel, business, kids shows, fashion, sports, comedy, cooking and non- controversial news. Business owners, administrators and facility managers using the service for display, simply choose the categories that match their vistors’ interests most.

Becker’s Hospital Review reports the average wait time nationwide is now more than 15 minutes. Most TV shows last much longer and start at the top and bottom of the hour. IRTV segments are current, timely, engaging and never run more 4 minutes in length. All of the videos are subtitled so even if you prefer a quieter setting people can still enjoy the programming.

iPhone App to Create Custom TV with Wireless Ad Uploading — It’s Relevant TV Ad Builder, Inside the It’s Relevant TV iOS App

In addition to controling the video content, users also control a suite of digital messaging. The app includes an ad builder that allows the user to take a photo, add text and even a QR code before setting it live alongside the TV programming on their screen(s). Users can also control the syndication of their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. With full screen features, It’s Relevant TV displays the user’s most recent posts automatically. It’s Relevant also offers a 5-day weather forecast based on the user’s zip code

Free App Download

It’s Relevant TV for iOS is free for It’s Relevant TV customers. The application includes a demonstration video, accessible upon download. Click Here to access the application on the iTunes Store.