NBC.com’s study on show streaming

Cory Bergman March 6th, 2008

NBC.com has the results back from another in a series of consumer surveys from people watching “NBC Rewind” video. As we’ve seen from ABC.com and others who have commissioned similar surveys, the ad recall for show streaming is off the charts: 86% in NBC.com’s case. And NBC.com said “ads with interactive elements were more likely to elicit higher brand recall as well as higher agreement that ads were entertaining and relevant.” The survey also concluded that 77% say NBC Rewind was a compliment, not a substitute, to TV. Press release with a few more details follows below…

PRESS RELEASE — BURBANK, Calif. – March 5, 2008 – NBC Digital Entertainment today announced its findings gathered from the fifth wave of quarterly consumer research studies conducted during the last quarter of 2007. Among the highlights: a large amount of users are staying through entire episodes, higher brand recall and increased satisfaction with the NBC Rewind video player. The announcements were made by Vivi Zigler, Executive Vice President, NBC Digital Entertainment.

“Digital entertainment is truly a consumer’s medium,” said Zigler. “We are constantly developing and re-shaping our offerings based on what our users like and how they interact with our site.”

“NBC.com’s loyal users actively navigate and curate their own experience in NBC Rewind so there is a high level of engagement,” said Peter Naylor, Senior Vice President, Digital Media Sales, NBC Universal. “These research results show that when the right message is tailored to the right medium, this engaged audience really responds and our advertisers win.”

Finishing out 2007 as the number one network site in December for both average time spent (11.25 minutes) and uniques (7.9 million), NBC.com commissioned original research to better understand how consumers are utilizing the NBC Rewind video player. Over 5000 Rewind visitors were surveyed during the fourth quarter, yielding insights for NBC.com and its advertising partners. Among the findings: dramatically higher brand recall for ad content created specifically for the internet vs. previous quarters (86% vs. 70%-75%), high agreement that Rewind ads are less disruptive than ads on television, and a strong desire to interact with advertising. In fact, ads with interactive elements were more likely to elicit higher brand recall as well as higher agreement that ads were entertaining and relevant.

Additional findings include 77 per cent of users streaming video as a compliment to TV viewing (the majority report catching a missed episode online). Over a quarter of respondents also reported sampling a new show while viewing online, with the majority continuing to watch the show after trial, both on air and online.

In overall traffic findings, so far this year, “Deal or No Deal,” “American Gladiators” and “Biggest Loser” are the sites top performers, delivering over 70 million page views in 2008. Additionally, NBC.com has delivered 40.9 million overall video streams (up 24 per cent from last year). Uniques in 2008 are up seven per cent so far (15.5 million).