Consumers will tolerate more ads and stay tuned into online TV when networks up the ad load, according to data I came across during my reporting on Comcast’s TV Everywhere initiative.
Executives at sister networks History Channel and A&E tell me that when they increased the number of ads in full-length episodes of their shows by 20% in the early TV Everywhere roll-outs, viewers still watched the episodes to completion by the same amount.
That means the increased ad load isn’t turning viewers off. This data is particularly noteworthy given a recent research report from comScore found that consumers won’t mind a doubling of ads in online TV.
Also, Anthony Soohoo at CBS told us at the Beet.TV roundtable in February that CBS is considering increasing the number of ads.
For more details, here is my New Media Minute this week.
Daisy Whitney
Editor’s Note: Daisy’s New Media Minute is
produced and sponsored separately from Beet.TV. We are pleased to
publish her segment regularly here. AP
