NBC: Digital TV Viewers Watching More Shows, Ads

MediaPost Publications, March 6, 2008 — NBC DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT SAYS IT has good news for Internet TV advertisers on several fronts.

From a regular quarterly consumer-research study, NBC says more viewers are watching entire online episodes than ever before--some 92% of viewers that start an NBC video watch it all.

Media agency executives have been concerned that viewers are sampling shows online--just viewing for a couple of minutes, rather than staying for the entire episode. That means they are also missing out on commercial messages.

The study also notes that online viewers--via the NBC Rewind video player--have higher brand recall and increased satisfaction now than in previous periods: 86% brand recall versus 70% previously.

Why DVR Viewers Recall Some TV Spots†

NBC Study Tracks What is Absorbed in Fast Forward

Wall Street Journal, February 26, 2008 — What do Matt Damon and an animated piece of phlegm have in common? Viewers seem to remember them especially well, according to a new test that measured what people recall about TV ads, even when they're zapping through them.

The test is part of a continuing effort by General Electric's NBC Universal to measure the effectiveness of television ads that viewers skip through with their digital video recorders. The bottom line: Viewers still remember the spots — or at least some elements of them — even when they're watching at up to six times the speed of regular live TV.