The Evolution of Advertising Blocks to Digital Feeds

In this episode of the Kanawha Valley Hustlers podcast I explain how the advertising blocks we grew up with, like Saturday morning cartoons and TGIF, connect directly to today’s algorithms on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. I show how ads evolved from newspapers and magazines in the 1800s to radio soap operas aimed at homemakers, then into TV dayparting where families, kids, and dads were targeted at different times. In the 80s and 90s, branded blocks like TGIF, Must See TV, Fox Kids, Disney Afternoon, and SNICK focused even more on specific groups. Cable TV expanded this with whole channels like MTV, ESPN, and Lifetime built for niche audiences, and later blocks like Toonami and Adult Swim zeroed in on young men who had not yet formed long-term brand loyalties. The digital age pushed it further with Google search ads, display networks, and Facebook’s targeting based on likes. Now algorithms recommend content based on every detail of what we watch and engage with. It is all built to capture and sell attention, and if you want to grow a business today you have to understand how to work with these systems.