Mobile TV Test Shows Positive Ad Results, Two-Thirds Watched Spots Out-of-Home

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Over-the-air, cable and satellite TV may be facing ongoing challenges from digital media that are enabling viewers to avoid commercials or watch video programming from other sources, but an emerging platform -- mobile digital TV -- is showing some promise for advertisers and broadcasters alike. In an ambitious series of tests organized by the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC), consumers equipped with special cell phones and portable personal computers that are capable of receiving over-the-air broadcast TV signals are yielding encouraging results, especially in terms of advertising exposure and recall.

The results of one of those tests, which are published here for the first time, found that consumers participating in the cell phone portion of the trials in Washington, DC watched and recalled a TV commercial while using the hand-held devices to view digital mobile TV content.

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That portion of the test, which was organized by the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) ran versions of the Advertising Council's long-running "Project Roadblock" drunk-driving public service ad campaign. In additional to conventional 30-second PSAs, the mobile digital TV viewers were exposed to static, interstitial billboards that appeared on their screens during the buffer time it takes to change channels via mobile digital TV reception. They were also exposed to interactive banner ads that appeared on a special digital TV channel guide featuring content being broadcast by the eight local broadcast TV stations participating in the project.

A similar test featuring programming and commercials broadcasted to consumers equipped with special hand-held computers is also being conducted as part of a test with Havas' MPG unit, which undertook the initiative as part of its Collaborative Alliance efforts. In that test, MPG client Panasonic is testing a conventional commercial advertising buy, the results of which will be released at the next Collaborative Alliance meeting, Dec. 2nd, in New York City.

In both tests, digital data researcher Rentrak has been tracking and measuring the results of mobile TV viewing consumption. To measure the qualitative impact of the drunk-driving PSAs, the TVB also asked Harris Interactive to conduct some consumer recall studies, and found the following results:

* Recall of anti-drunk driving advertising by mobile phone users in the Showcase more than doubled, from 15% prior to the launch of the campaign to 34% post-campaign.
* The majority of users who recalled seeing the ads saw them while they were out of home (69%).
* While the 30-second spots had the highest recall, fully one-third of mobile phone users who remembered seeing the ads also remembered seeing the interstitial billboards.
* A number of respondents were able to recall key elements of the campaign, including specific visuals that were unique to the billboard ads.

Abby Auerbach -- the executive vice president and CMO of the TVB, who oversaw the bureau's participation in the project -- said that the fact that more than two-thirds of viewers said they saw the spots while they were out-of-home was especially encouraging for advertisers and local TV broadcasters, because it means mobile may actually extend the reach of local television to places and at times when viewers aren't otherwise able to watch it. In essence, she said, the digital platform is a net positive for local broadcasters and advertisers, not a negative.

She said more research needs to be done on when, where and how consumers utilize mobile digital TV, but that the initial finds are very encouraging for the broadcast TV industry, which is working with the OMVC to try to convince consumer electronics manufacturers -- especially cell phone, smartphone and hand-held computing device manufacturers -- to install special chips and receivers into their devices that will enable the mass market to access digital mobile TV signals.

Auerbach said that as many as 70 local broadcast TV stations have already invested in special transmitters -- at a cost of about $150,000 per station -- to ensure that viewers will be capable of receiving their mobile TV signals. She said that number is expected to rise to at least 100 stations in the next year, and that some electronics manufacturers may begin selling devices equipped with mobile digital TV receivers and tuners as early as this Christmas.

Initially, Auerbach said local broadcasters will merely be passing their conventional terrestrial TV signals through to the mobile devices, but over time, they may begin to create special content and advertising that takes advantage of interactive capabilities, as well as the proximity and mobility of viewers.

That's something the MPG Collaborative Alliance is also keen on, said Mitch Oscar, executive vice president-televisual at MPG, who oversees the effort.

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