NCAA Web action wins big for CBS & Advertisers

The majority of games in this years big tournament have been played out and as always there were it’s share of upsets and big surprises. No matter the outcome of the final game, the Ratings indicate that the CBS Sportsline webcast of the 2006 NCAA tournament pulled in more than twice as many online viewers as the network promised advertisers. Sponsors of the free webcasts appear more than pleased with the turnout, with Pontiac, for one, reporting "at least a 10% to 15%" spike in traffic to its Web site. Link: BusinessWeek 03/30/06 - CBS's Slam Dunk on the Web Past SMM Posts: 03/27/06 - Online Demand for CBS's NCAA Tournament Surpasses Capacity and 03/08/06 - March Madness Live on the Web

66% of the Online Video Audience Watch the Ads as Well

According to a new study by the Online Publishers Association and Frank N. Magid Associates, Video news clips draw the largest audience with 27% of viewers watching news clips at least once a week. This is followed closely by 26% who watch funny videos (once a week), overall 5% are view video daily, 24% view it once a week and 46% are watching once a month.

Although the number of consumers which current click to view video online routinely is low, that number is growing and the study point out that those consumers are engaged with advertising as well. Of the U.S. online population, 66% percent have seen an online video ad, and 29% have acted on what they’ve seen. It's a rich environment for advertisers, with online video advertising being viewed regularly and leading to specific actions. Link: Online Publishers Association – From Early Adoption to Common Practice: A Primer on Online Video Viewing also AdAge 03/20/06 – Audience for Online Video Growing Rapidly

Online Demand for CBS's NCAA Tournament Surpasses Capacity

If the numbers are any indicator, CBS SportsLine says its Internet broadcast of the Division I men's NCAA basketball tournament is a blowout. Their early projection about high demand demand for their online NCAA tournament games has been confirmed now that millions of online users turned out to view the first four rounds of the NCAA tournament. The bad news is that the network was unprepared for the crush, resulting in many viewers missing out on the coverage and waiting lists of up to 120,000 fans. Fortunately, CBS's conservative capacity estimate also helped it make its ad impressions guarantee for its 15 sponsors and avoid a make-good situation. Link: Advertising Age 03/27/06 - Viewers Mob CBS Online NCAA Coverage Past SMM Posts: 03/08/06 - March Madness Live on the Web

Google to Enhance Ads in Maps

Beyond the traditional paid placement, Google Local is testing embedded ads in maps that use new icons and branding. For example, a search in New York for "booksellers" yielded little coffee icons in addition to the regular blue pins. Click the icons and a box layers over with a Barnes and Noble graphic under the words, "sponsored link." Link: Blog.searchenginewatch.com – Google Test New Image Ads in Google Local

Mobile TVs not just for the 18-24 year old Crowd Anymore

Mobile TV and video usage may appear to be growing primarily attracting high proportion of young adult and males (according to a Telephia report) however according to a study by eMarketer, 36 million users will be watching video on their mobile phones by 2009.

In forth quarter ’05, 1.5% or roughly three million wireless subscribers in the U.S. streamed TV or played video content on their mobile. Younger mobile subscribers, age 18-24 have the highest penetration for mobile TV and video usage, securing a 3.3% rate and doubling since the beginning of 2005. Overall, men are more likely to stream TV and play video content on their wireless devices than women. Female mobile subscribers who accessed mobile TV and video content over their handsets had a rate of 1.2% in Q4 2005, equaling 2.5 million consumers, according to Telephia. "During this early adopter stage, audience demographics play a significant role in directing mobile companies how to best develop mobile TV and video content offerings," said Kanishka Agarwal, Vice President of New Products, Telephia. "The key for providers is to be able to understand the needs of these individual groups and supply targeted content that they will pay for." Past SMM Post: Dec 15 ’05 – Mobile TV’s Future Growth

Advertisers see TV Medium Losing it's Effectiveness

A new study from Forrester is predicting that 2007 will be the year that the television industry experiences an actual full-year decline in ad revenues. This conclusion was reached by speaking with 133 National advertisers which represent more than $20 billion annually in ad dollars. The results show that 78% said they are less confident in Television as an effective advertising medium than they were two years ago, and nearly 70% believe seismic shifts are in store for traditional modes of advertising like the 30-second ad. Note this - 24% stated that they intend to cut their TV ad budgets by at least a quarter and reallocate that money to online advertising, product placement and other channels once DVR penetration grows above 30 million household. Despite this, only 17% cited ad-skipping and DVR technology as the top threat to TV advertising, while 48% of the advertisers polled named commercial clutter as the leading problem. Link: AdAge.com Mar 22, ’06 - MARKETERS LOSE CONFIDENCE IN TV ADVERTISING also ClickZ Networks 03/22 - ANA Marketers: Our TV Spots are Tanking

DVR Coupon Campaign a Success for KFC

Consumers responded to a recent KFC ad that, when slowed down with the aid of a DVR, gave a code viewers could use to get a coupon for a free sandwich. Although ABC decided not to air the spot, claiming that the ad contained subliminal advertising, KFC reported that the ad was a success. Approximately 103,000 people claimed their "Buffalo Snacker" prize sandwich, and that traffic to the KFC Web site spiked 40% during the run of the promotion. Link: WSJ Mar 20, ’06 – KFC seems to win at game of Chicken

In2TV Goes Live

AOL and Warner Bros. Officially launched In2TV yesterday and it’s billed as the first broadband television network and featuring "classic" television programming. AOL and Warner Bros. announced In2TV last November, and it works like an on-demand television station, delivering full-length television episodes to users home computers via broadband for free, although advertisers will be paying for in-stream advertising as well as banner ads and other accompanying promotions. Four advertisers are on board at launch—Intel Corp., Kia Motors Corp., Kraft Foods Inc., and Hershey Co.—with more expected as the service rolls forward. Link: Designtechnica News Mar 15, ’06 – AOL and Warner Launch In2TV PAST SMM Post: AOL’s Content Deal with Warner Bros. – Nov 16, 2005

Two-thirds of Home Internet Users Connect via Broadband

Broadband penetration grew 13% last year to 95.5 million homes, which means 68% of active home-Internet users now use a broadband connection, according to a study released today by Nielsen/NetRatings.

The report notes that Broadband’s high-speed access has changed the way people use their computers. The average person now spends 30.5 hours per month using their home computer; two years ago the average person spent only 25.5 hours at their PC each month. It is not just the high speed of broadband that has prompted significant changes in computer usage patterns, said Jon Gibs, senior director of media, Nielsen/NetRatings. Because broadband service is “always on,” people using it do not have to make a special effort to log on to use the Web. “The Internet has become an extension of the PC,” Mr. Gibs said. “Broadband enables people to jump on and jump off rather than set aside a block of time to use the Internet.” Link: AdAge.com Mar 15 ’06 – Rise in Broadband Changes Consumers’ Internet Habits

RSS-Embedded Ads

Cnet Networks has started running ad units embedded with RSS feeds, allowing advertisers to display real-time information to Web users. E! Entertainment television is the first advertiser to use the tool, which Cnet says it will make available for all Interactive Advertising Bureau ad units on 15 of the Web sites in its network. E!'s ad reads "What do you want to know about Hollywood?" and then displays headlines on a ticker at the bottom of the ad. Users can click on the actual stories that scroll across the bottom, which opens a new window to the story on E! Online. Cnet claims RSS-embedded ads allow advertisers to optimize their ad campaigns in real time at much lower production costs, and expects more marketers to use the tool to promote their RSS feeds. For example, a Cnet marketing executive said a food manufacturer might use the RSS feeds to highlight a new recipe every day, or an apparel company might use it to highlight seasonal fashions. The use of RSS in ad units could become a serious marketing trend: Reuters has used RSS feeds to place news headlines inside Diet Coke ads, and British Airways used RSS feeds to keep price quotes in ads fresh. Link: Adweek Mar 13 '06 - Cnet adds RSS Ad Units

March Madness Live on the Web

CBS Corporation announced it would broadcast live the first-ever free webcast of the NCAA's men's basketball tournament this month. The network's March Madness on Demand will allow fans to register at NCAASports.com and watch any game that is not being broadcast by their local CBS affiliate. Major Sporting events have been shown on the Net in the past however the audiences have always been limited. This year Executives at CBS believe that small web audiences will be a thing of the an a major turning point for webcasting since the Webcast is free and is fully sponsored. They believe that base on recent record web traffic for the Superbowl it could draw the biggest online viewership ever. Advertisers must be intrigued, currently CBS has 20 sponsors for the Webcast. Link: BusinessWeek Mar 13,'06 - March Madness: CBS's Killer App

NHL Broadcasts are Ratings Challenged

AdAge reports that the National Hockey League’s on all-time attendance high, a sign that hard-core fans have returned after 2004-05 season labor lockout. But the casual fan is not back: TV ratings have fallen 21% on national partner NBC compared to ratings on ABC two years ago. Nielsen Media Research figures show the 21% drop, to be fair, NBC has had only four telecasts so far this season. On Comcast’s OLN, the league’s new cable partner, ratings are flat with that of ESPN2 two years ago, but are down more than 60% from games on ESPN in the 2003-04 season. Link: Adage.com Mar 8, ’06 - HOCKEY FANS RETURN TO STADIUMS, BUT NOT TO TV

Online Ad revenues grow 35% in Q4

Online Ad revenues in the fourth quarter surged to a record $3.6 billion This is an increase of 35 percent from the last three months of 2004, according to a report released Wednesday by the IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The IAB also estimates that Internet ad spending totaled $12.5 billion for the year, representing a 30 percent increase from 2004. While that growth rate is impressive, it's slight slow down to the 32 percent growth between 2003 and 2004.

This year, growth is likely to decelerate again, although it will probably be at least 20 percent, predicted Greg Stuart, CEO of the IAB. "There comes a point where you wouldn't continue to see the same acceleration year after year after year," Stuart said. In the last five years, the second quarter of 2004 showed the highest growth, with online ad spending increasing by 43 percent over the second quarter of 2003.
The current IAB estimates come on the heels of Yahoo's and Google's fourth-quarter stock reports that also showed double-digit gains, although at a slower growth rate than Wall Street had predicted.