It seems that the high-tech truck stop chain known as Flying J is being sued by the television networks for editing out commercials from network broadcasts, and replacing them with commercials produced and sold by their own in-house ad agency called Plaza TV.

According to an article in Adlaw

Rather than airing the network commercials that pay for the development of such programs, Flying J ran commercials for products and services such as the “America Truckers Legal Association,” “Truckers’ Magazine” and “Flying J Internet Kiosk.”

This appears to be another case of technology-induced disintermediation, and one more body blow to the traditional advertising business model. It was bad enough when individuals began to TiVo on through TV commercials, but now anyone in the chain between the broadcaster and the viewer can co-opt the content for their own purposes as well.

I don’t know enough about the relevant law to comment on the legality of this type of behavior; and it may well come to pass that the courts will penalize Flying J for its actions. But if this development foretells anything, it is that content owners will need to find other ways to monetize their goods. If Flying J is doing it, then it won’t be long before the corner deli and your doctor’s office do it too.

What can content owners do to answer the challenge? Interactive TV? Embedded advertising? Televisions that are smart enough to disable content when advertisements are skipped or replaced?

I’ll make a mental note to myself to think about it later. For now, yesterday’s episode of Lost (just downloaded from iTunes) beckons.