ABC Building Emerging Media Labs to Track Ad Viewership
Brian Steinberg
Advertising Age
May 13, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Duane Varan is really starting
to get around. After launching a research group at an
Australian university that has been working with
Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Kraft Foods, among
others, this professor who specializes in interactive TV
is about to conduct experiments on ad viewership for
Walt Disney's ABC and ESPN.
The networks said they would launch an "emerging media
and advertising research lab" in conjunction with Mr.
Varan, who has spent the last several years testing how
TV viewers react to interactive TV, split screens,
sponsorships, product placements and the like. Disney
intends to open several facilities for tests, including
a lab in Austin, Texas.
Quest for data
Like many other media concerns, Disney is on a quest to
determine what kinds of commercials and promotions
viewers will stick around to watch when they have so
much technology at hand that allows them to skip past
things that interrupt their entertainment. In Perth,
Australia, Mr. Varan recently completed a three-year
test of how viewers react to various ads, and used
techniques such as measuring biometric responses to
determine whether ads and other elements on the TV
screen were enticing enough.
Disney has already been forging its own way amid
complexities. In February, ABC said it would increase
the availability of its programming via video on demand
-- so long as the parties who want to distribute
programs such as "Grey's Anatomy" and "Ugly Betty"
disabled a viewer's ability to fast-forward through the
commercials. At the time, the network said it was
following up on a trial it unveiled in May in which
select ABC prime-time series and ESPN on ABC
college-football events were made available to
subscribers of Cox Communications' Orange County,
Calif., cable system via VOD. In exchange, Cox had to
disable the technology that allowed its subscribers in
that area to fast-forward past commercials.
Initial research on the Cox trial showed that 93% of
people who had their fast-forwarding capabilities
removed when watching ABC programs on-demand found
having to watch ads an acceptable exchange for getting
to see the programs free, ABC said. About 20% of users
said they used on-demand to watch an ABC program rather
than using a DVR.
Old measures no longer enough
"In today's rapidly changing media environment, we need
to go beyond traditional forms of research to ensure an
effective connection with our audience," George
Bodenheimer, president-ESPN and ABC Sports and co-chair,
Disney Media Networks, said in a prepared statement.
One of Mr. Varan's best-known projects is "Beyond :30,"
a $1 million-a-year project that has been funded by
multiple agencies, marketers and media companies, which
also include Kellogg. CBS, ESPN, Turner Broadcasting,
Publicis Groupe's Starcom MediaVest Group and Omnicom
Group's OMD. Test subjects in the project often sit in
one of six mock living rooms surrounded by hidden
cameras and other gear, which monitor their reactions to
on-screen elements.
Mr. Varan and his staff have run more than 6,500 viewing
sessions in which members from a panel of more than
3,000 people are subjected to new kinds of TV
commercials -- not your standard quick hit, but rather
new concepts that demand more concentration and
involvement. Some of the tests involve video games
superimposed over the ads. Others gauge how the average
couch potato might react when pausing a recorded program
and seeing an advertiser's logo on screen. Another
effort involved news tickers -- much like those on CNBC
-- that offer information while ads play.