• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 3, 2016

New research from Hub shows that 53% of TV viewers would rather watch ad-supported online TV than pay for a subscription. But if technology gives them the ability to skip those ads, they’ll use it!

Presented here as the way the study is reported by Hub, the way viewers respond to ads themselves seems to run counter to their stated preference. In fact, majorities of TV viewers say they skip ads whenever they have the chance:

• 83% of DVR users skip ads at least “most of the time”. That includes 60% who say they skip every ad
• 68% of DVR users say they will at least “sometimes” pause their DVR at the beginning of a live broadcast, so they can fast forward through ads. 26% say they do this “every time”
• 52% to 56% skip ads “most” or “every time” on VOD and online platforms, when fast forward is available

The online TV market appears to be settling on monthly or yearly subscriptions as its pay model of choice. One example is Hulu’s recent decision to discontinue it’s "free-with-ads" service and focus solely on it’s paid subscription tiers. However, says the report, 45% of TV viewers say that fast forward disabling is a “major frustration.”

According to the report, consumers seem to be saying that ad supported TV is still an appealing pay model, but the way ads are incorporated into online TV disrupt the experience and make alternative platforms more appealing. The survey, therefore, tested a number of ideas for making ads in TV content more engaging. Consumers had the most positive reaction to three strategies:

• Lighter ad loads: One ad per ad pod (rated as a 9.3 in terms of likelihood to pay attention to ads) was the highest rated idea tested.
• Targeting ads based on relevance or product interest: Ads more relevant to my interests (8.1), fewer ads but more targeted to me personally (7.1), and ads shown based on product categories I choose in advance (5.9) all scored higher than average.
• Gamifying the ad experience: Earn points for watching ads (8.2), earn promo codes for watching ads (7.3), and include countdown clock for when the show will resume (5.9) also received strongly positive scores.

Peter Fondulas, Principal at Hub, says “Conventional wisdom says that consumers simply don’t like ads on TV… (the) study suggests that they don’t like the way ads are delivered on TV… consumers say they’d welcome…ads more targeted to their interests… especially interesting…  better targeting of ads based on past purchases doesn’t appear to raise major privacy concerns…”

For additional information from Hub, please visit here.