• by Lee Hunt , November 3, 2004

Last week, MediaPost suggested that cable networks need to give their advertisers optimum placement in commercial breaks. And, they were right. Networks have an obligation to help advertisers get the most value from their media buy.

That's why the networks listed put promos in the "A" position. They've taken a close look at how viewers watch TV and restructured their breaks to optimize gross rating points for their advertisers.

We all know that the first 30 to 60 seconds of a commercial break often determine how many viewers will stay for the entire break. Whoever is in the first position is going to get the most eyeballs. Those in second, third, fourth, and on will get fewer and fewer. Or so the logic goes. But the logic is wrong.

Last year, a fully distributed cable network ran a study to understand the differences in viewing behavior between promos and commercials. Specifically, they sought to understand the audience's response to promos versus commercials at the very start of a pod. Here's what they found:

When a commercial airs in the first position on the channel, it loses 20 percent of its audience on average. That means one in five viewers leaves the channel.

In contrast, a channel promo airing in first position loses only 3 percent of its audience.

If a commercial airs in second position, directly following a channel promo, its audience size is comparable to the first position (17 percent versus 20 percent) - in fact, it's 3 percent larger. The advertiser actually received more views in the second position.

Promos in the first position help the channel continue its ratings growth (which every advertiser wants to see), while delivering the audience that the advertiser expects.

Promos in the first position result in a "win-win."

If you need more convincing, consider this: According to Carat Media, "Instead of taking the blame for taking the viewer away from the advertising, program promotions are regarded by consumers as relevant and useful. The real culprits are poorly placed or executed ads and long breaks of predictable duration."

Breaks have two purposes: to run an advertiser's commercials, and to run a channel's promotional messages. Both are critically important, because it's not just about earning cash this hour. It's also about attracting viewers for the next hour, the next day, the next week... and keeping revenue growing too.

We all know that commercials are the life-blood of an ad-based TV network. But they come with a price. Commercials decrease viewership. Run the right amount of commercials, and you'll lose an acceptable amount of viewers. Run too many commercials, and you'll lose too many viewers. Then you begin the downward spiral; decreased viewership will result in lower ratings. Lower ratings will attract fewer advertisers.

Like commercials, the goal of promos is to "increase sales." But far from decreasing ratings, promos maintain and often increase viewership, certainly on an incremental basis, but also minute-by-minute. If you think about it, this makes sense. I came to this channel to watch one of their shows. If they show me a message about another one of their other shows, I'm likely to listen.

Viewers see promotion as a kind of preview, so they don't click away. And if the promo has done its job of "increasing sales," viewers will stay longer and return more often. And that translates to the upward spiral, higher ratings, which attract more advertisers.

The networks that MediaPost criticized realize that this is not about ad sales versus promos. This is about maximizing the audience. Promos help do that. Maximizing the audience maximizes revenue. And that makes everyone happy.

Lee Hunt, head of Lee Hunt LLC, is a brand strategist and a recognized expert on TV promotion marketing. He is a member of Archipelago, a creative alliance.