A story published this week by Media in Canada highlights just how much consumers ‘tune out’ when commercials hit their screens.
According to a new MTM report more than half (53%) of Canadian adults seek out a new activity, such as leaving the room for a snack or taking a bathroom break once TV and video ads interrupt the content they’re viewing.
Nearly half (45%) of viewers turn to another screen such as a smartphone. Roughly two in five Canadians say they skip commercials via a device like a PVR.
As well, TV viewers under 50 are more likely to turn to second screens during commercials, while men are more likely to change the channel during a commercial than women. Anglophones are 23% more likely to just watch the commercial than Francophones, who are more likely to leave the room and do something else.
Studies from Totum Research finds that newspapers score highest on engagement (Engaged and Connected; February 2019). Intuitively this makes sense, since reading a newspaper is an active choice rather than a passive background activity. When Canadians were surveyed on various metrics for media engagement, printed newspapers scored highest.
When reading a newspaper, Canadians give it their full attention, compared to other media where attention is fractured.
[feature the attached Engagement chart as main image linked to https://nmc-mic.ca/members-area/publishers-presentation/
