A Video Consumer Mapping (VCM) study by the Council for Research Excellence (CRE) could be heartening news for the dozens of vendors at The Cable Show today showing off targeted advertising schemes--it's certainly different. Targeted, or addressable, advertising schemes are supposed to help cable operators attract more ad dollars by addressing individuals or groups of subscribers with ads targeted to meet their interests. The goal is to help battle a perceived erosion of viewers watching advertisements.
Now the CRE says that erosion isn't happening. Among the surprising results of the study, conducted throughout 2008: "TV advertising and program promotions reach 85% of adults daily; viewers typically see 26 advertising or promotional breaks daily, at an average length of 2 minutes and 46 seconds per break; 11% of viewers change channels during the four minutes of TV programming before the commercial break; only 14% change channels during commercials and 13% change channels in the four-minute period after programming returns. In other words, 86% of viewers remain with live TV during commercials."
Of course, the kicker here is "live TV," but it seems the couch potato is becoming even more deeply rooted into the sofa.
For more:
- see this news release
Related articles:
Google getting closer
Ad insertion aims to make VoD more attractive