Commentary
Room For More Ads on Online TV
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, April 13, 2010
70% say online TV is better for stopping and playing a show whenever they want, 67% say there is less interference from commercials, and 61% say there is more overall convenience. When asked specifically why they watched TV episodes online, the most frequently cited reason among cross-platform viewers was that they had missed an episode on TV (71%), followed by convenience (57%) and fewer ads (38%).
Traditional TV is seen as providing a higher quality viewing experience. This is reflected by percentages of cross-platform viewers who say traditional TV is better for picture quality, sound quality, viewing a show as soon as it's released, and overall viewing experience.
Cross-Platform TV Viewer Media Preferences (Total U.S., Cross-Platform TV Viewers) | ||
| Share of Cross-Platform Viewers | |
Response to "is Online or TV better?" | Online | TraditionalTV |
Watch the show wherever I want | 75% | 25% |
Watch the show on my own time | 74% | 24% |
Ability to stop and play show when I want | 70% | 30% |
Less interference from commercials | 67% | 33% |
Overall convenience | 61% | 39% |
Overall viewing experience | 32% | 68% |
View show as soon as it's released | 31% | 69% |
Sound quality | 28% | 72% |
Picture quality | 25% | 75% |
Source: comScore, Inc. December 2009, Released April 2010 | ||
In order to determine viewer receptivity to advertising when watching TV shows online, respondents were asked about their "advertising tolerance" when watching one hour of TV programming on the Internet. The results indicated that online advertising's "sweet spot" is between 6 and 7 minutes per hour, substantially higher than the approximately 4 minutes per hour that is currently consumed by ads delivered online as part of TV content.
Tania Yuki, comScore director of online video and cross-platform product, says "... while some analysts have suggested that the shift to online video reflects a consumer desire to view fewer ads, our research suggests that... online TV viewers actually have a higher tolerance for advertising messages than they are currently receiving... media companies have not yet extracted full value out of the online medium."
Time shifting of TV viewing is most prevalent among younger TV viewers, with only 35% of viewers age 18-24 indicating they watched episodes live, 42% saying they watched the programming at a different time within one week of the original air date and 23% saying that they watched more than one week after the original air date. 25-34 year olds exhibited similar time-shifting behavior, while older age segments exhibited the least amount of time-shifting behavior.
TV Time-Shifting by Age Segment(Total U.S., Share of TV Viewers) | ||||
|
| Time Shifted | ||
Age Segment | Watch Live | Same Day to 3 Days After Airing | 4-7 Days After Airing | > than 7 Days After Airing |
18-24 | 35% | 22% | 20% | 23% |
25-34 | 35% | 23% | 24% | 18% |
35-49 | 46% | 21% | 17% | 16% |
50-64 | 55% | 16% | 17% | 11% |
65+ | 57% | 16% | 14% | 13% |
Source: comScore, Inc. December 2009, Released April 2010 | ||||
Younger TV viewers are also more likely to watch TV across media with 54% of cross-platform viewers being under the age of 35 compared to just 30% of TV-only viewers.
For additional information, please visit comScore here.
The study is based on a survey of more than 1,800 US internet users who watch originally scripted TV content, grouped into three segments: TV-only viewers, cross-platform viewers, and online-only viewers, to analyze differences in viewing of originally scripted TV programming.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.
Comparing "advertising tolerance" reminds me of a line from the Threee Stooges when they're given the choice of having their heads chopped off or being burned at the stake. Moe opts for a beheading, while Curly chooses burning at the stake with the rationale: "Everybody knows a hot steak is better than a cold chop!"
There is a huge difference between what folks want and what they are willing to tolerate. The bottom line remains the same, however, namely that, given the choice, no one chooses more advertising.
I use to watch On-Demand programs, until there were as many commercials in them as the broadcast version. I moved to watching online. When online gets to be no different then over the air, I will just not watch. Everybody loses.
I'd love to see the numbers broken out by the question of whether commercial fast-forwarding is disabled or not. Cable DVR viewers have been given the option to avoid commercials and they do. If online video viewers are denied that option, then how do they behave and feel about advertising compared to Cable DVR users?
BTW, I agree with Mike Einstein's point that tolerance is not the same as receptivity to advertising. We need to find ways for advertising to be the "hero" of free content in a way that viewers embrace, rather than just tolerate.
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