Anne Sweeny, Walt Disney Co. (co-chair media networks and president of Disney-ABC TV) announced today that ABC’s streaming-video experiment earlier this year on ABC.com will become a real offering in October.
The network said the experiment was a success for advertisers, given that research showed users had 87% recall of the advertisers involved. Comparatively, average recall of advertising on TV is about 24%. Each program that streamed was supported by a single advertiser, which of course, may be the key to the nearly total recall.
Advertisers who tested the concept of advertising in TV shows that consumers could watch from the network’s website included AT&T, Cingular, Ford Motor Co., Procter & Gamble Co., Toyota, Unilever’s Suave, Universal Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures.
The test results will be shared with ABC’s affiliates. ABC will tweak some aspects of the site design, but Ms. Sweeney didn’t reveal what aspects would change. When asked if this project would evolve into a paid subscription service from an ad-supported one, Ms. Sweeny commented, “I would do it with advertising again,”
Shows such as “Lost” and “Commander in Chief” received some 11 million downloads in the first four weeks of operation. The two-month-long test ended June 30. Ms. Sweeney said ABC had used the streaming media test for three sets of research data that included “server information, focus groups and exit interviews.” ABC did not sell the product in the upfront, preferring to save sales talks for the scatter market. It is unclear if any of the launch advertisers will return.
