• by August 9, 2000

Results of the largest unaided recall study in the history of the television medium were released last week by the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau and provide, according to the CAB, the strongest statistical proof to date that cable is equal to the broadcast networks in primetime commercial effectiveness.

Conducted by Nielsen Media Research for the CAB, the recall study randomly surveyed 17,200 Adults 18+ by phone at home during primetime in April. It is the follow-up to a smaller CAB/Nielsen survey conducted earlier this year among 5,700 adults.

Among the key findings of the new nationwide telephone coincidental study were:

- There is essentially no statistical difference between cable and broadcast network television on the basis of viewers' verified recall of commercials as well as their attentiveness to primetime programming. The study shows that a strong direct correlation exists between attentiveness levels and commercial recall.

- The percentage of cable viewers who stayed tuned during a commercial break (claimed commercial exposure) is about the same as broadcast network television, refuting the assumption by some that, in a multi-channel environment, the ad-supported cable audience is more likely to channel surf to avoid commercials.

- Unaided recall is significantly impacted by commercial pod length and pod position. In general, shorter pod lengths and the first pod position command higher than average recall levels. (The study notes that these two variables are intertwined in raising or lowering recall levels, as opposed to having isolated effects.)

- The unaided recall level of 15-second TV commercials is one-half that of :30s.

- Similarly, viewer recall of TV network on-air promos is one-half that of advertiser-placed product/service commercials.

(Nielsen verified the recall responses after completion of the survey by running them against their Monitor Plus commercial logs. Since Monitor Plus captures only national spots, the study was confined to the verification of broadcast and cable network commercials-mentions of local commercials were excluded from the final tabulations.)

"This landmark study provides conclusive validation that commercial effectiveness isn't merely a function of audience size and that the broadcast networks don't have a monopoly on attentive viewers," said CAB President & CEO Joe Ostrow. "In fact, ad-supported cable is delivering recall levels on a parity basis with broadcast and has the distinct advantage of being able to finely target desired consumers demographically and geographically."

The CAB says this unaided recall database will be turned over to the agency community to allow media research professionals to further explore recall issues and provide planners with useful qualitative input for determining the best allocation of budgets.