MindShare: Clutter Doesn't Sputter, Still Makes Us Shudder

As advertisers and agencies prepare to invest billions of dollars in upfront commercial advertising time for the 2006-07 season, clutter and its effect on advertising engagement will once again be on their minds. And the 2006 edition of an annual study released this morning by MindShare is unlikely to put them at ease. The study, MindShare's so-called Clutter Watch, finds, not surprisingly, that the problem is growing worse, not better, with broadcast and cable networks reaching the highest levels of prime-time commercialization ever. The report, which is based on an analysis of 2005 prime-time commercial minutes and non-programming (commercials, promos, PSAs and station IDs) minutes data from TNS, found that commercial minutes on the broadcast networks rose 2 percent over 2004, while cable networks rose even more - nearly 5 percent.

"The current data on clutter is disturbing," stated Debbie Solomon, group research director at MindShare and author of the report, which MindShare has been conducting ever since the American Association of Advertising Agencies abandoned its own annual analysis several years ago. "It highlights the continuing concerns about the messaging and communications value of the TV environment caused by the increasing number of distracting elements present in prime-time."

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However, Solomon noted that "not all broadcast and cable networks are to blame, some - and we praise them - have held their clutter in check."

ABC's commercial time, in fact, was flat at 12 minutes and 44 second per average prime-time hour, while NBC actually declined five percent to 12 minutes and 5 seconds per hour. NBC's declines, however, may reflect waning demand as the network continues to plummet in prime-time ratings.

While Fox added the most commercial minutes - rising 7 percent to 12 minutes and 55 seconds per hour - it cutback on total non-programming time, making it the only broadcast network to do so last year.

One factor that should help mitigate prime-time broadcast commercial clutter, is the consolidation of UPN and WB into CW, though News Corp. simultaneously will ad My Network TV.

On the cable front, MTV continued to be the worst offender, squeezing 21 percent additional commercial minutes per prime-time hour, and raising its total non-programming time 18 percent to a record 16 minutes and 13 seconds per hour - about two-and-a-half minutes more than 2004, according to the MindShare analysis.

Broadcast Prime Time

                    Network Commercial Minutes                

2004

2005

INDEX

10:21

10:12

98

9:45

8:54

91

9:16

9:43

105

8:49

9:47

111

8:43

8:55

102

7:15

7:52

101

Total Commercial Minutes

12:46

12:44

100

12:40

12:05

95

12:03

12:13

101

12:05

12:55

107

12:23

12:49

104

11:06

11:40

105

Total Non-Program Minutes

15:21

15:26

101

15:01

15:01

100

14:15

14:52

104

15:06

15:00

99

14:34

15:10

104

13:49

14:26

104

Source: MindShare analysis of 2005 TNS data.

Cable Prime Time

Total Commercial Minutes

 

2004

2005

INDEX

CNN

9:56

11:25

115

DISC

9:58

11:07

111

ESPN

9:41

12:38

106

FNEW

9:41

11:32

119

LIFE

12:18

13:37

107

MSNB

12:00

12:13

102

MTV

9:53

11:57

121

TNT

10:09

10:38

105

USA

12:03

12:33

104

SPK

n/a

12:20

n/a

Total Non-Program Minutes

CNN

13:22

13:50

103

DISC

14:48

15:28

104

ESPN

11:45

12:15

104

FNEW

12:25

13:26

108

LIFE

14:45

15:42

106

MSNB

14:45

14:58

101

MTV

13:46

16:13

118

TNT

13:43

13:48

101

USA

15:06

15:43

104

SPK

n/a

15:28

n/a

Source: MindShare analysis of 2005 TNS data.

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