• by Wayne Friedman , October 2, 2019

Contrary to some common perceptions about advertising, a Deloitte study says younger TV viewers actually have a higher tolerance for advertising -- especially for streaming services.

In a study of 2,000 U.S. consumers who were asked about traditional TV-video content viewing, Generation Z and Millennials were found to have a higher tolerance compared to Baby Boomers and older audiences defined as Matures.

Older Generation Xers were also in the same category as Gen Z and millennials -- saying that 8.61 minutes of advertising is about right, while 16.67 is too much.

Baby boomers/older TV viewers had a lower tolerance, saying 6.60 minutes is about right, while 14.94 minutes is too many. Older “mature” viewers also cited 6.60 minutes as being about right, and 15.62 as too many.

The study defines Generation Z as those born between 1997 and 2004; Millennials, between 1983 and 1996; Generation X, 1966-1982; Boomers, 1947-1965; and Matures, prior to 1946.

Advertising tolerance was even higher when it comes to live TV streaming services, according to the research. Gen Z considers 10.61 minutes per hour of advertising time to be about right, with Millennials citing 9.90 minutes; Gen X, 9.75 minutes; Boomers, 6.7 minutes; and Matures, 7.18 minutes.

Overall, consumers say about eight minutes of advertising -- or a ratio of advertising minutes to total viewing minutes of 13% per hour of video content -- is a fair ratio. Sixteen minutes of commercials per hour is “too many.”