TV on Internet Beats TV on TV, Study Says
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Written By Sepideh Saremi | December 27, 2007 | Share This
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New data reported this week shows viewers are more engaged when watching TV content and advertising online than when they watch it on a TV set. In a year-long study, researchers surveyed nearly 75,000 participants to determine that online TV beats traditional TV by 47% when it comes to viewers’ engagement with advertising, and by 25% when it comes to engagement with content. MediaPost explains how engagement was measured:
The study defines “engagement” according to six characteristics that respondents identify with media: “inspirational,” “trustworthy,” “life-enhancing,” “social interaction,” “personal time-out” and ad receptivity.
Survey participants were asked, for instance, to rate TV shows, magazines and Web sites based on how “inspiring” they were or how much they provided fodder for conversation. Ad “receptivity” was gauged on how willing people were to view or read advertising in a given medium because of its relevance.
The efficacy of online TV advertising is good news for networks, even though they’re in the midst of a strike by writers over the issue of payment for online content. This study also appears to give a boost to the writers’ argument that they should get of the online ad dollars networks generate, but at least it proves that online ads work for TV.
Networks have been working hard to figure out how to maximize online revenues, favoring ad-supported, free access to content via sites they control, like hulu, a News Corp./NBC Universal joint venture currently in private beta, or network websites like abc.com, which offers most of ABC’s prime time shows in the form of streaming video. NBC stopped offering downloads via iTunes this year, and the network is also experimenting with “quarterlife,” a show that debuted on MySpace and YouTube with mixed results but will air on NBC in February.
Why is online TV engagement so much higher than engagement via TV set, especially for ads? Coverage of the study doesn’t really say, but it probably has to do with the more limited nature of that advertising, the inherent interactivity of the web, and the fact that most of the online ads are just better. Most hour-long ABC shows, for instance, feature four or five 15-second clips, usually from the same advertiser, many of which include games or other interactive elements that give the viewer something to click or do while watching. The relative infrequency and shortness of those ads makes them less intrusive than traditional TV advertising, which typically bombards viewers.
One very fascinating part of this study also found that print and magazine content online is also more engaging than its dead-tree counterparts, though the numbers are not as dramatic as those for online vs offline TV (perhaps because reading online isn’t as fun as watching online?). But overall, print is more engaging than both online or TV, though its audience is declining.
See more of the study on MediaPost.
Topics: Advertising: Distribution, Advertising: Offline, Advertising: Online, Media Convergence, Online Video |
Facebook users can watch hulu with their friends on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=6443058041
Pretty neat.