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Replay ads − the new advertising era of time-shifted TV usage
TV usage now occurs on different devices in various situations, and so advertising formats are also evolving. In September 2022, the TV industry will therefore present its very own minor world premiere: replay ads. Below is a summary of what this new advertising form is all about and what benefits it brings for advertisers.
Increasing use of time-shifted TV
In many European countries, time-shifted TV is only partially available, such as via media libraries or with the broadcaster’s approval, due to copyright reasons. This is not the case in Switzerland, where TV programmes that have already been broadcast can be viewed on replay TV for seven days.
Advertising-financed TV is still by far the most popular moving image medium, but the use of time-shifted TV is becoming increasingly important. In Switzerland, for example, an average of around 40% of 15-49-year-olds already primarily watch replay TV (source: Mediapulse, as of January 2022). This also affects TV advertising and its impact, as adverts can simply be skipped when viewing on catch-up.
THREE INNOVATIVE ADVERTISING FORMATS
In order to strengthen TV advertising and thus maintain the financing, relevance and diversity of this media genre, TV broadcasters, distributors and advertising marketers have concluded an industry agreement on new forms of advertising for time-shifted TV and have developed the replay ads which were launched in October 2022.
These innovative advertising solutions will be used for time-shifted TV and delivered in the appropriate usage situation. There are three different formats:
Start Ad
Short ad at the start of time-shifted TV use
Just one ad of max. seven seconds / impossible to skip / charged at 100% completed view
Pause Ad
Ad shown when pausing a live program or time-shifted TV
Static display ad / displayed throughout the pause / charged when displayed for 10 seconds or more
Fast Forward Ad
Ads shown when skipping and/or fast forwarding a linear ad break when using time-shifted TV
max. 130 seconds per ad break / max. 60 seconds per ad / impossible to skip / charged at 100% completed view
Benefits for advertisers
Replay ads give advertisers access to an innovative TV advertising solution that has a range of benefits:
- A larger audience: when placing their adverts on time-shifted TV, advertisers will achieve both additional reach and a new target group in future.
- Exclusive, high-quality advertising: just one ad is broadcast for start and pause ads. With replay ads, advertisers also benefit from a premium form of advertising in terms of environment, targeting and impact.
- Guaranteed attention: the adverts are only triggered when the viewer intervenes. In addition, start and pause ads are impossible to skip, so the advertising message receives full attention from viewers.
- User-friendly form of advertising: the new spots and ad breaks are relatively short, allowing viewers to accurately (re)access television programmes with a single click.
- Individual, targeted advertising messages: the pause ad can be deployed regionally, thereby allowing specific viewers to be addressed.
- Brand safety always guaranteed: the advertising message is displayed exclusively in a familiar, brand-safe TV programme environment.
- More creativity: advertisers can be as creative as they like. Replay ads enable the implementation of creative, innovative advertising concepts, such as by using the replay situation.
- The perfect complement to a linear TV campaign: existing ads and campaigns can be extended into the replay session.
- Responsive ad delivery: be it TV, smartphone, tablet or desktop − the advert is shown on all devices in keeping with the channel.
Strong audience acceptance
Initial assessments of the TV audience’s reaction to the replay ads have been made using an online survey among the TX Group panel. This acceptance study revealed the following results:
- In principle, the majority of respondents understand that TV broadcasters have to be financed by adverts
- Replay ads have a higher level of acceptance than traditional linear TV ads
- Shorter ad breaks are better received
- Replay ads are perceived to be better quality than traditional linear TV ads
- Of the three forms of advertising, the start ad has the highest level of acceptance
- Respondents are most likely to favour the standardised use of replay ads
Replay ads are becoming standard throughout Switzerland
In future, replay ads will be shown throughout Switzerland via national and regional distributors such as Swisscom, Sunrise, Zattoo, Quickline, etc. Many well-known broadcasters have also embraced and are preparing to implement this new advertising solution.
The launch of replay ads has created a new service for users of time-shifted TV. TV audiences can select the following options:
- Replay TV with ad skipping and no replay ads
- Replay TV with replay ads during ad skipping
- Replay TV without the ad skipping function
Replay Ads as part of the TV currency
The launch of new hybrid TV research in July 2022 by Mediapulse created the technical basis for measuring time-shifted TV usage, thereby forming a more realistic picture of fragmented moving image usage in Switzerland.
Previous panel research has now been supplemented with data from the set-top boxes of TV distributors, thereby providing a much more accurate picture of total TV usage, both linear and time-shifted − an initial step towards convergence, with the aim of establishing replay ads as part of a sustainable TV currency, thereby reflecting the development of TV and its usage.