When people leave their television on certain channels when they go to bed the chances are they will wake up to an infomercial. The thing is, running a television channel is an expensive operation and it makes sense to farm some of the costs out to people who could really do with the air time. The format has been so successful that direct response TV (DRTV)is now a massive industry in its own right.
There are now countless channels dedicated to selling products around the clock. These are not just the quieter times of day when only people working strange shift patterns get to see them. The channels that are full time shopping channels have their own stars and product providers.
Not that long ago it would have been hard to imagine people tuning in to see a commercial but now people do it just like they go shopping or browse through catalogues. The customers know that air time is precious so only good products will make it to the screen.
For someone selling something clever unique or innovative there is no quicker way to market than DRTV. This way you have no costs or logistic problems with a large distribution network. Instead the sale can happen instantly and everyone gets their cut after payment is made via a phone call.
Also the call to action in a hard sell process through a television broadcast means that there is little need for a massive distribution network. Any large distributor will tell you that you could have a new product at the point of sale for months before it starts to sell in numbers.
If you have someone telling a customer exactly how good something is at fixing their problem or how better it is than competitors it will sell better. Especially when they can see a demonstration in front of them then they are asked to make a direct response in calling a number to order.