Pausing your TV show? No problem. But there will be a price to pay -- and gain.
During Hulu’s TV upfront presentation, Senior Vice President of Advertising Peter Naylor talked up a
statistic that, in the past, wouldn’t be touted so highly in reference to TV consumer behavior: stopping video.
For many, this isn't a good benchmark for TV network producers or advertising
marketing partners. Full-motion video storytelling is still a premium deal.
But now -- in this fractionalization media world -- we look for any edge and engagement.
Among Hulu’s 28 million monthly subscribers (amounting to 58 million viewers),
the company says there are a total of 1.1 billion “ad-supported” pauses per month -- pauses that probably come when viewers leave the room temporarily where the screen resides.
And
that means opportunity.
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Video pauses on Hulu, as well as other platforms, mean that marketers can offer a quick and somewhat
non-intrusive commercial message for products -- with display messaging.
Now, digital media displays may not be assigned the same value as full-motion video advertising. But big-screen digital
TV advertising display holds real value -- not just by sheer size, but in adjusting to media consumers' digital behavior.
Naylor also noted that Hulu’s median age is 31, around 20 years
younger than linear TV network viewing. Hulu viewers are probably more accustomed to this kind of activity.
Added to this, Hulu notes lower overall TV advertising -- limiting commercial pods
of 90 seconds. In addition, there is lower frequency -- no more than two times in an episode and four times a day.
Can all traditional TV networks-programmers offer the same type of
“pausing” advertising on linear TV? DirecTV subscribers already get still TV promotional messaging when pausing while watching time-shifted viewing.
Figuring TV networks will
continue to seek more linear TV advertising alternatives, new monetization formats are something to consider. Full stop.