comScore Study: How Advertising for Original Scripted TV Programming Works Online

Key findings from comScore's latest report examining ad sensitivity and consumer expectations when watching original scripted TV programming online include:

• The desire to entice and engage online audiences may have resulted in underselling the opportunity to generate digital dollars with online TV viewing.
   
• Greater ad loads are actually acceptable to most viewers.

However, it is not a simple case of increasing ad loads across the board:

• Different values and ad sensitivity thresholds are held by age groups, creating new opportunities by demographic and rejecting a 'one-size-fits-all' approach when advertising to digital audiences against original TV programming online.

ComScore describes the new TV audience as:

• Liking to watch content on TV screens - in fact, audiences prefer the TV to the online experience across most genres of content.

Despite this reality,

• 35% of audiences for original scripted TV programming are no longer loyal to the TV screen for viewing, and are willing to get their entertainment needs met on new platforms, particularly online.

ComScore's report lists the primary drivers of online viewing as:

• 18-24 year olds - 55% of whom are platform agnostic or online-only viewers.

According to ComScore, the right amount of video advertising to maximize revenue for online viewing depends. Their research indicates that age is an important differentiator in viewers' ad sensitivity and expectations of ad loads when viewing original TV programming online.

The report's conclusion describes the Cross-Platform and Online viewer as not TV-averse but rather governed by convenience, choosing the Internet as the primary viewing portal for certain types of entertainment so they can tune in how they want, when they want, and around their own schedules and time constraints.

Click here to view or download the full comScore presentation