DVRs Continue to Drive Advertisers Crazy

Posted by Paul Christ October 05, 2009

Labels: Advertising, Customer Behavior

Hit TV Shows Have Most-Skipped Ads (New York Times)

While this is a relatively short story, the implications are important for major television advertisers.  If as reported, DVR owners are most likely to skip through the big shows than big advertisers are likely to reconsider what they are spending since big shows often command higher ad fees.

The company said that nearly all of the television shows that won 2009 Emmys showed higher levels of ad-skipping than the averages for their respective genres. The sole exception was “30 Rock,” 64 percent of whose audience skipped the commercials, as opposed to 66 percent for all sitcoms generally.

Can advertisers still capture viewers’ attention as they are fast forwarding?

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1 Comment

  1. Corinne makes this comment

    January 11, 2010

    Advertisers are upset that they are paying for premium airtime during top-rated shows, when the TiVo data indicates that these shows have the most skipped commercials. 30 Rock is the exception, possibly because they use an advertising tactic that involves the actors from the show in the commercials during that hour. This is actually very smart. While fast-forwarding through commercials, it’s always a challenge to hit ‘play’ at the exact right moment. If you see Tina Fey’s face come on to the screen, your brain doesn’t have time to discern whether it’s an advertisement or the show. Another way advertisers can help capture attention while in fast forward mode is to use large text on the screen of the commercials that can be read quickly.

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