• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, August 15, 2008

According to the recent Arbitron Bar Media Report, nearly one-third of American adults age 21 or older are bar patrons and 43 percent of men age 21 to 34 have visited a bar or lounge in the past week. Since (says the study) fully one-third of bar patrons watch television programming at home using a DVR  and three-quarters use software to block advertising online, bar-based advertising has the potential to reach not only a significant portion of adult consumers, but concentrate its message among those who actively avoid advertising delivered on television or the Internet.

Diane Williams, senior analyst, custom research, Arbitron, says "... (since) advertisers (are) trying to figure out how best to counteract commercial avoidance in their media plan, especially among young adults... this survey... suggests that advertising placed in bars goes a long way towards reaching this elusive and valuable consumer segment."

The research shows that bar patrons are more likely than average Americans age 21 or older to watch TV shows online (streaming), through Internet downloads, using cable provider Video On Demand (VOD) services, or on DVD. All of these new ways of consuming TV programming, combined with DVR usage, significantly limit the viewer's exposure to traditional TV commercials. On the other hand, 42 percent of bar patrons have watched TV in a bar in the past month. This represents an opportunity for brands to reach those users with TV ads that cannot be skipped, concludes the report.

In addition, the report notes that the music listening habits of bar-goers also differ from the general population. Fifty-eight percent of weekly bar patrons have ever listened to radio online and 16 percent have listened to radio over the Internet in the past week. Bar-goers are also more likely to be subscribers to satellite radio services such as XM or Sirius. Furthermore, 43 percent of bar-goers own an iPod or other MP3 player and 27% have purchased music online from sites such as iTunes. More reasons to explore this out-of-home demographic.

For more information about these findings and Arbitron, please visit here.