Ad Research Body to Study Online TV Habits

In the UK, TV marketing body Thinkbox has commissioned consumer agency Work Research to conduct an in-depth qual and quant research study to uncover online TV's value to advertisers.

Thinkbox was founded in 2005 to help the main UK commercial broadcasters understand how audiences engage with TV advertising. The new project will examine how consumers are using online TV services and how attitudes towards online TV compare with those towards broadcast TV.

Qual research will be used to compare a group of non-users as they start using online TV, alongside a group who use online TV primarily to catch-up with broadcast TV. It will also be used to focus on a major TV programming event to explore usage patterns and attitudes in order to understand how a programme that is both broadcast and online is consumed, and whether attitudes to the programme are different.

An online quant study will explore the key behaviours and motivations behind using online TV services and will analyse respondents' views of advertising around online TV content. Thinkbox will work closely with broadcasters and agencies to help develop this side of the study.

'It's the right time to take our first look at how viewers are using online TV,' explained Thinkbox Research and Strategy Director, David Brennan. 'I hope that this new research will give us greater insight into how online TV is being consumed as part of people's overall TV diet, and help advertisers understand how it can be integrated effectively with their broadcast TV campaigns.'

Preliminary results are expected by autumn this year and full results in early 2009.

Thinkbox has recently initiated several studies designed to give the advertising industry greater understanding of issues and trends in TV. Other initiatives have included a study with the Internet Advertising Bureau to look at the effectiveness of using TV and online ad campaigns in tandem.

Web site: www.thinkbox.tv .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.