• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, December 11, 2008

According to consumer research from Experian Simmons, reported by Marketing Charts, only 28% of the audience of an average news program gets valuable information about products and services advertised there, making news venues less effective at conveying ad messages than all forms of media combined.

Advertising Effectiveness By Media Type
	% of News Media Viewers	% of All Media Viewers
Get valuable information	26%	38%
Get high quality products and services	33	42
More likely to purchase advertised products	21	33
Source: Experian MME study, 2008 (extrapolated % values)

The  latest Simmons Multimedia Engagement  Study finds that consumers are less likely to purchase products and services they see advertised on news media, and are less apt to say  products and services advertised on news media are high quality.

The MME defines and examines five key dimensions of engagement and examines how each plays an important role not only in how media connects with its audience. The five dimensions of engagement as reported by Experian are:

• Inspirational: Consumers are inspired by message and have an emotional connection to it
• Trustworthy: Consumers trust a particular program, magazine or website and believe it is telling the truth without sensationalizing
• Life Enhancing: Consumers feel they are learning about new things and places from a particular program, magazine or website, helping to make better life decisions
• Social Interaction: Fodder for conversations with friends and family.
• Personal Timeout: Provide an escape for consumers, who like to relax and unwind while reading or watching them

Americans gave news media highest marks for Social Interaction, indicating that they regularly talk with friends and family about things they see on news programs or read about in news magazines or on online news sites.

In addition, news media get high scores for Trust, meaning that while other research has shown Americans don't necessarily trust "the media" at-large, consumers believe that the news they personally consume provides them with accurate and trustworthy information, Experian Simmons said.

News magazines rate higher for Trust than online and TV news, but news websites are considered more Life Enhancing.

And, among the TV and magazine news properties evaluated, Experian Simmons found that the most talked about news property is The Drudge Report, followed by:

• The New York Times
• Countdown with Keith Olbermann
• The O'Reilly Factor
• The Wall Street Journal

Of the same 48 news properties, Google News was the least likely to generate any type of social interaction. Next to last was MSNBC's Morning Joe, followed by:

• Yahoo News
• CBS Evening News with Katie Couric

According to the study, Trust and Social Interaction don't necessarily go hand-in-hand. The most-talked-about Drudge Report scored 12% above average for Social Interaction and ranked #1 in that dimension, while scoring 10% below average for Trust, for which it ranked #46.

News media gets the lowest overall scores in the Personal Timeout dimension. When Americans want to escape, the last place they'll turn it to the news, says the report. But, TV programs that regularly feature news satire are less engaging than real news except when it comes to the Personal Timeout dimension.

For more information and charts, please visit here.