Sky Media is looking to move the discussion around TV viewing from focusing on eyes-on-screen numbers to looking at whether viewers are actively absorbed in what they are watching.
Launched today, the new ADsoprtion index goes beyond attention and provides metrics that incorporate emotional involvement with the content.
The first phase of the research is centred on how engrossed audiences are in what they are watching, while the second phase will see Sky work with agencies and brands to test and fine-tune the index.
Results will be measured across two pillars, how involved the audience is (how focused, engrossed and captivated they are), and how much value the audience places on what they are watching (by measuring passion and memorability).
To create the index, Sky Media worked with brand research consultancy Differentology and combined Barb data with Sky’s panel of 4 million review viewing behaviour.
It used an in-the-moment viewing diary, with 500 Sky Subscribers logging their viewing occasions over a seven-day period, in addition to capturing 575,000 minutes of viewing minutes across TV, BVOD, social media and websites.
“We’re really excited to be sharing our ADsorption Index with the industry,” said Sky Media director of planning Sarah Jones.
“TV has always delivered high attention and impact, but absorption offers brands more insight into the viewing moments that matter for their target audience and gives media planners another lever to deliver competitive advantage,” she continued.
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Not all attention is equal
TV is still one of the most effective mechanisms for attracting attention (despite an ad slump across broadcast). The study identified drama and documentaries as the most absorbing genre, alongside sport (which can be taken as a win for those tapping into the summer of sport).
However, their strengths appeared to differ. Documentaries deliver more highly for ‘focused’ and ‘engrossed’, while film delivers well for ‘captivated’ and ‘memorable’.
It also highlights not only content, but platforms that perform better for those engaged moments. For instance, when people select shows they are passionate about on BVOD – the index falls particularly high.
Time of day also plays a role, with late evening proving to be the most impactful.
High absorption v low absorption
The research also highlighted that both high attention and low attention processing can be important for different contexts and different goals in advertising.
For immediate impact and message retention, high attention processing is crucial, with ads that have viewers full attention most likely to impact consumer behaviour.
Conversely, low attention processing can be important for building brand familiarity over time, with less attention-grabbing spots able to subtly build up brand recognition over time.
Differentology founder and CEO Mark James said: “The way in which viewers watch content involves more than just eyeballs on screen. This new tool broadens and deepens the attention conversation and keeps Sky at the forefront of content and advertising measurement.”
