The Wire

When Melbourne Business School academic Mark Ritson did a study of a group of television watching households in London four years ago, he came up with a finding with quite disturbing implications for the advertising industry and commercial television. Most viewers don’t watch the ads, especially in the highest rating programs. During commercial breaks viewers were more likely to talk, read, channel surf, do housework or go to the toilet. Only 15 to 30% of viewers took any notice of the advertisements. This was bad news for advertisers, yet most chose to ignore Professor Ritson’s conclusions. However, they probably won’t be able to ignore the results of his next study, which will be conducted in Australia, and will examine how the Personal Video Recorder – a device that will allow viewers to ‘zap’ ads – affects viewers’ absorption of TV advertising. Michael Jones spoke with Professor Ritson and asked him if he was surprised by the findings of his original study and how this new study would differ.