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TV Ads: Out With The Old, In With HD

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Old-fashioned, standard-definition TV ads are outnumbered. National advertisers who haven’t yet moved to high definition (HD) are, for the first time, the minority on network broadcast and are becoming the minority on network cable too. Among financial services, political, entertainment, retail and automotive, political advertisers -- at 51% -- had the greatest percentage of ads delivered in HD, while financial services, at 76%, aired the greatest percentage of HD ads.

The insights are from Needham, Mass.-based ad distribution and rights management company Extreme Reach, Inc., whose second-quarter 2012 HD Advertising Trends Report details how the industry is moving to HD. The study, based on the analysis of 1,900 active television advertisers across 28 verticals, 615 active video production studios and content providers, and most North American broadcast outlets shows a 150% increase in HD ad distribution since the same quarter two years ago. 

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The firm says that two years ago, HD ads made up about 10% of all TV ads distributed by advertisers to broadcast and cable media outlets. Today, that number has grown by 150%. The firm says that in the second quarter this year, 25% of ads delivered to TV media outlets were in high definition. 

According to Extreme Reach, 44% of financial services advertising is now in HD versus 29% in 2010. For automotive ads, that differential is 26% versus 16%. The biggest jumps are in entertainment advertising, where HD format has risen from 17% of the mix in 2010 to 50%, and political ads, where HD has increased from 8% to 51% in two years. The study finds similar -- although in some cases (political and entertainment) not as dramatic -- increases in the number of advertisers using HD.  

The Extreme Reach study has also found acceptance of high-definition advertising around sports venues, in places like lounges, concession areas, and JumboTrons. The firm says that compared to local TV broadcasters, sports venues have higher HD adoption and distribution rates. Extreme Reach data says 63% of sports TV destinations -- defined as venues where sports teams are playing -- accept HD advertising. And those sports destinations are receiving a significant portion of their advertising in HD, too.

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