The 30 second spot is dead? Not according to the Television Bureau of Advertising....

Neilson just released a study, sponsored by the Television Bureau of Advertising showing that Television is still influential and important.  And just when we thought it was dead! (note the sarcasm).

Apparently among adults 53% of consumption is TV and 90% reported watching it in the next 24 hours vs 72% for the internet. (On a personal note I just canceled my cable and prefer to watch TV online and movies through Blockbuster).  Apparently time spent on TV is over double that spent on the internet.

So who cares that people are still watching TV???? They are all skipping the commercials (or at least most of them are and they all will be in a few years).  Grasping at straws.... 

Now, this is where it really gets interesting - you ready for this?  They have an answer to cynics like me.

TV had the most persuasive advertising (69.9%) and internet had the lowest (5.1%).  Furthermore, respondents said that brand and product awareness were most effective on TV (55%), with internet the second highest at 18.7%.

So, lets address these one at a time.  First, TV has the most effective advertising.  Of Course it does!!?!?!?!  Marketers have years, and years and years of experience with TV - it is one of the oldest forms of advertising.  Many, many years and many many millions of dollars have been spent perfecting the 30 second spot (and now the 15 second spot) and analyzing results to death perfecting both the best ways to run TV ads and the best ways to measure results.  The internet is new.  It takes time to learn the best ways to both use and leverage a medium and to decide the best ways to measure results.

Second the brand and product awareness are better on TV .  First, this was consumer reported - they asked respondents where they learned about products and brands. 

Brand and product awareness was also dominated by the tube, with 55% of respondents saying they were more likely to learn about products and brands they might like to try and buy on TV, trailed by the internet at 18.7%, magazines at 14.6%, newspapers at 7.1% and radio coming in last at 4.5%. - Ad Age

People are used to TV ads - we've been shoving them down their throats since most of them were born.  Of course it is the first place they think of when asked this type of question!  Furthermore, on the internet, "advertising" (meaning shoving banner ads at people) isn't the most effective way to communicate with consumers.  The measures are all wrong!!!!!!!!!

Its interesting that the Television Bureau of Advertising is publishing studies like this.  Focusing on the wrong measures, trying to convince the world that their sinking ship is not in-fact sinking.

I suspect that the only people persuaded by these stories are those who are on the ship and rather than jumping off, would rather believe that the ship could not possibly be sinking.

Comments

[reddknight]

Let me first say I share your opinions and have similar viewing habits (actually, I don't even bother to Tivo).

However, I don't think we are even close to representing the general public. The vast majority of people I know (in different states, cities and even countries), including educated and technical people, only use the Web for email and surfing and do not Tivo. I also see that they are increasingly sharing live viewing--being on the phone during, or immediately after, reality shows and sports events. And they constantly cite commercials to each other I've never heard of. This is also true for my teenager as well, btw.

[Krista Neher]

@reddknight - Thanks for commenting and showing the other side. And I agree, we are on the "edge" of technology and tech habits. The web will take a long time to replace TV as a medium for viewing shows, however time spent online is growing while TV is declining.

In terms of DVRs, currently DVR penetration is about 17% and it is expected to almost double to 35% in the next 5 years.

The other point I would make is that there will likely be a downward spiral with television. Advertisers pay for television content with their commercials. As ad dollars shift away from TV there will be less spending to support the content. Poorer content = less viewers = less ad dollars, etc, etc.

I'm not pretending to be an expert on the future of TV, but it does seem that they will need to adapt their business model in the future. Someone has to pay for that content!

Anyone else have thoughts on this????

[BarbaraKB]

Krista, my son is the barometer for me: he plays video or computer games rather than watch television. Change is afoot fer sure but I do believe it will be when my son, who is nine, is in the powerful buying age of 15-16, thus in six years. Not too far away, really.

[BTW, congrats on getting rid of cable. Brave. Not sure I'm ready to be rid of my satellite 'cuz I love my DVR shows.... Peace!]