U.S. marketers raised their mobile ad budgets by 7-8% in Q4 2011, but may wish to boost them further. Mobile ad outlets, e-readers and tablet computers specifically, nearly doubled in market reach, and in just six weeks.The percentage of U.S. adults who own tablet computers jumped from 10% to 19% between mid-December and early January. The percentage of those who own e-book readers jumped the same 10-19%, reports the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.
All told, 29% of Americans own at least one of the two devices; that percentage jumped from 18% in mid December.
Pew calls these findings “striking” after stagnant ownership figures between Summer and Autumn 2011. But as Christmas approached, “Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble’s Nook Tablet were introduced at considerably cheaper prices than other tablets.” Among e-readers, some models of the Kindle and Nook fell below $100.
Who are the owners?
After the holiday rush, a full 36% of tablet owners lived in households earning more than $75,000. Almost a third, 31%, is college educated. The highest percentage of ownerships is among adults 30-49, at 27%, but the 18-29 demographic is not far behind, at 24%.
The e-reader story is a bit different. Women outpaced men as new adopters, and now 21% of women own them, versus 19% of men. The average household income was more evenly spread, owing to the lower total cost of ownership.
Online Ads: Poll Finds 15 Seconds the Limit for Consumers
Consumers understand that free content online is supported by advertising. But the majority at 54% considers 15 seconds the limit for in-stream and online ads, according to a survey by Poll Position. The company conducted a survey of 1,179 registered U.S. voters.
Of those polled, 54% felt that 15 seconds was acceptable, and 12% went as high as 30 seconds. But the numbers climb even higher, when you exclude the 27% who had no opinion. Of those who do have an opinion—
- 73% find 15 seconds acceptable;
- 5% find 30 seconds acceptable.
Demographic Divides
Interestingly, the figures were fairly close for male versus female voters and Republicans versus Democrats. But some significant demographic differences emerged.
Consumers in the 30-44 age group had the highest tolerance for 15-second ads, at 60.5%. Those in the 65+ demographic are far less patient, and only 40.1% of those consumers find 15 seconds acceptable, versus the 54.1% mean.
Among ethnic groups, 60.3% of white consumers find 15 seconds acceptable, but only 40.1% of Hispanics, and 33.3% of African-American respondents.
Lifestyle, Luxury Mags Garner Top Ad Page Growth
While 15 of 24 categories saw ad pages decline in 2011, Media Life reports that books targeting the “haves” versus the “have nots” are doing just fine. Lifestyle and luxury titles all saw gains, in the categories of fashion, recreation, home and general interest. Media Life (quoting data from MagazineRadar) reported that luxury apparel books increased their ad pages 11% in Q3 2011, and luxury magazines in general by 6%. That, opposed to a print book decline of 5.6% for the quarter.
Some of the winners: Departures, at a 43.3% jump; Architectural Digest at 9.1%; W, 5.6%; and Power & Motoryacht at 24.9%.
The reason is simply that upper-class readers weathered and recovered from the recession better than did the middle and lower class. Media Life quoted a Pew study which found that middle class families have lost 23 percent of net worth, versus 12% for the upper class. Those losses for the upper class were largely in property values and stocks—they continue to pay bills, versus lower-income consumers.
Publishers Information Bureau data also reveal that the two books that gained the most ad pages in Q4 2011 were AARP the Magazine with 84.7 percent, and Reader's Digest Large Edition, up 117.8 percent. Parenting magazine with their younger demographics were down 12.8 percent, says Media Life.
Device’s Screen Size May Determine Conversion Likelihood
While search advertisers experience higher click-through-rates for mobile phone and tablet search campaigns than for desktop search campaigns (at 166% and 137% respectively) according to a November 2011 report from Macquarie Group, those clicks are less likely to convert to sales in a direct relationship to screen size. The report employed Efficient Frontier advertiser data. Efficient Frontier found that mobile conversion rates were at just 31% of the average desktop campaign’s, while tablet conversion rates were much more on par (96%). Meanwhile, the average cost-per-click (CPC) on mobile phone search campaigns was slightly higher (108%) than for desktop search campaigns, although CPCs for tablet campaigns were on average 85% of desktop search campaign CPCs.
Chart: Confidence in TV and Newspapers News, 2010 v. 2011
Confidence in newspapers and television news increased across most key subgroups, year over year, according to an annual update on institutional confidence from Gallup “Americans’ Confidence in TV and Newspapers News.” The biggest across-the-board improvements were among 30- to 49-year-olds and men. The views of Americans aged 18 to 29 exhibited the most mixed year-to-year change, with this group showing a 10-point increase in confidence in television news but a 10-point decrease in confidence in newspapers.
While members of this group remain among the most confident in each, their views are now on par with those of Democrats and liberals. Republicans also showed inconsistent movement in their opinions, registering a nine-point increase in their confidence in television news and essentially no change in their views of newspapers. Interestingly, considering the highly polarized nature of cable news, all ideological groups increased their trust in television news to about the same degree.
About this chart: Results for this Gallup poll, which were released on June 27, are based on telephone interviews conducted June 9-12, 2011, with a random sample of 1,020 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
Study: Local Broadcasting Generates $1.17 Trillion in Annual GDP
Television and radio broadcasting contributes to 7% of the nation's GDP, or $1.17 trillion annually, according to an NAB-commissioned study conducted by Woods & Poole Economics, with support from BIA/Kelsey. The report, “An Analysis of the Importance of Commercial Local Radio and Television Broadcasting to the United States Economy,” which was released on Tuesday, also finds 2.52 million jobs attributable to the industry every year.
The study focused on local commercial broadcast radio and television stations including locally owned and operated commercial stations, affiliate stations and independent stations. Noncommercial radio and TV stations and the operations of over-the-air broadcast networks were not part of the analysis, except for networks' owned-and-operated local television stations.
The study calculated that the local broadcast industry employs over 300,000 people directly and in support industries, creating $49.32 billion in GDP annually. Television accounts for almost 187,000 of these jobs, as well as over $30 billion in GDP, while radio employs 118,000 people and contributes a little over $18 billion to the GDP.
The study also examined the associated economic effects of direct employment by local broadcasting has through the consumption of goods and services by industry employees, and concluded that local commercial broadcasting generates almost $135 billion in additional GDP and more than 833,000 jobs nationwide.
The study estimates advertising on local broadcast television and radio stations as a stimulant generating an additional $986 billion in economic activity and supporting 1.38 million jobs.
Chart: Video Audience Composition, by Age, Q1 2011
About this chart: Source: The Nielsen Company "The Cross-Platform Report, Q1, 2011." Watching TV in the home includes those viewing at least one minute (reach) within the measurement period. This includes Live viewing plus any playback within the measurement period. TV in the home includes Live usage plus any playback viewing within the measurement period. Timeshifted TV is playback primarily on a DVR but includes playback from VOD, DVD recorders, server based DVR’s and services like Start Over. Internet figures are from home and work. Hours:minutes for Internet and video use are based on the universe of persons who used the Internet/watched online video via their computers. Video user projection, time spent and composition data based on survey analysis of past 30 day use during the period. The mobile video audience figures in this report include mobile phone users who access mobile video through any means (including mobile Web, subscription-based, downloads and applications). Nielsen’s mobile survey reports mobile video usage for those users 13 and older.
Chart: Video Audience Composition, by Gender, Q1, 2011
About this chart: Source: The Nielsen Company "The Cross-Platform Report, Q1, 2011" Watching TV in the home includes those viewing at least one minute (r within the measurement period. This includes Live viewing plus any playback within the measurement period. TV in the home includes Live usage plus any playback viewing within the measurement period. Timeshifted TV is playback primarily on a DVR but includes playback from VOD, DVD recorders, server based DVR’s and services like Start Over. Internet figures are from home and work. Hours:minutes for Internet and video use are based on the universe of persons who used the Internet/watched online video via their computers. Video user projection, time spent and composition data based on survey analysis of past 30 day use during the period. The mobile video audience figures in this report include mobile phone users who access mobile video through any means (including mobile Web, subscription-based, downloads and applications). Nielsen’s mobile survey reports mobile video usage for those users 13 and older.
Report: TV Viewing Up 22 Minutes per Month, Mobile Device Viewing Up 41% YoY
Americans are spending more time watching video content on traditional TVs, mobile devices and via the Internet, according Nielsen’s “The Cross-Platform Report, Q1 2011.” Overall TV viewership increased 22 minutes per month per person in the past year, for moderate growth as the dominant source of video content for all demographics. Though still accounting for just a handful of hours per month, mobile video viewing continues to see gains, with the number of Americans watching video on their mobile devices increasing 41 percent over last year and more than 100 percent since 2009. Timeshifted TV continues to grow, both in the penetration of DVR devices in the home and the time spent. Internet video streaming also saw increases in time spent; this behavior is the highest among a younger and diverse subset of the population.
Chart: Reaction to Mobile Advertising, by Age
