Advanced Television

86% do watch commercials…if no DVR

May 12, 2010

Some 86 per cent of US viewers stick with a given channel during the commercials, according to a study from the Council for Research Excellence (CRE), which tracked the live TV-consumption habits of 376 adults across over 750,000 minutes.

The Video Consumer Mapping study showed little change in viewer behaviour before, during and after commercials. The study showed that 11 per cent of viewers change channels during the four minutes before the commercial break, and 13 per cent change channels in the four minutes of programming after a commercial break. Only 14 per cent change channels during the actual commercial break.

“In short, when the commercials come on, people stay with the TV,” said RJC Advertising VP/Media Director and CRE Media Consumption & Engagement Committee Chairperson Laura Cowan. “They only go the kitchen if they're hungry, and they don't fight over the remote.”

However, the study only followed live television, so DVR viewing—and the practice of viewers fast-forwarding through ads—did not figure into the research.

Categories: Advertising, Research, Research Library