August 16, 2022
Recently, there was an article published about the need for new currencies in television advertising. Specifically, for the industry to base what you pay for (commercials) on the actual viewership of the commercials and not the rated viewership of the programming they air during.
The rates of television advertising are based on ratings for block of time and programming. For example, due to extremely high viewership, commercials that air during Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy will always garner higher rates. But this doesn’t account for multi-screen viewing and channel surfing during commercial breaks. However, not all commercial breaks are equal! Ad breaks in the beginning of a program are shorter to keep retention and the NFL broadcasts are among those that retain the most viewers. Not surprisingly, programs with extended breaks lose viewers along the way.
As new forms of “TV” emerge like CTV and OTT, companies are now having to work towards measuring the viewership of paid ads so that buying ads on behalf of clients can be apples to apples versus apples to oranges, which is where we currently sit.
What can advertisers do in the meantime?
- Ask for weekly commercial times from your station account rep
- Listen in from time to time to see where your ads are falling
- Measure the audience with hour-by-hour ratings and audience sizes on a regular basis (this would be great to do during your quarterly marketing review!)
- Request make goods or better spot times when you see/hear too many commercials falling during the overnight hours or at the end of the hour
When you partner with D2 Media Team, this is part of our full-service commitment to you. We always stay ahead of this potential issue and review spot times, placements and ratings to achieve the highest value and return on investment.
