MAM
Broadband is changing the dynamics of ad business in the US: Nielsen
MUMBAI: Nielsen Analytics in the US has released a new report revealing that advertisers and television programmers are finding new and more lucrative advertising opportunities with broadband video.
The study has also determined that the use of broadband video actually extends the reach of traditional TV, and that broadband consumers are young, affluent, highly educated, and tend to have high speed web access virtually 24/7, making it an integral part of their lifestyle.
The study, Whatever, Whenever, Wherever: How Broadband is Redefining the Economics of Television is authored by Nielsen Analytics head Larry Gerbrandt and completed in partnership with Scarborough Research.
He says, “By researching controlled broadband access, this study concludes that programmers have the opportunity to create new revenue models to benefit content owners and their affiliated stations. Such ad-supported models are uniquely adaptable to the broadband environment and are potentially superior to existing models because they can take full advantage of the digital environment. With broadband streams, for example, fast forwarding through commercials can be disabled making it more likely the consumers will watch the spots and possibly interact with them.”
Despite growing numbers of prime time television shows being streamed (or pre-viewed) on network web sites, or the increasing popularity of user generated content (UGC), there has been no measurable negative impact on traditional television viewing. Video on PCs and iPods actually is expanding the audience of traditional TV programmes, supported by the fact that total TV usage was at a record high in U.S. households at 8 hours, 14 minutes a day during the 2005-2006 TV season according to Nielsen Media Research data. Household viewing has risen more than an hour a day over the past decade – or more than a half hour more per person.
Gerbrandt adds, “Advertisers and programmers using broadband have a unique advantage in the increasingly competitive advertising world. Ad models can be customized and managed in a broadband environment, and interactivity can be embedded into the program in such a way as to enhance engagement which does not take viewers away from the enjoyment of the programme.”
Broadband Video Advertising Models: There is a general consensus that viewers prefer short web-served ads, though the market is split between 15-second and 30-second pre-rolls per program segment. Furthermore, because broadband video offers levels of interactivity and viewer engagement not possible in a traditional TV spot, that argues for a higher CPM.
But television – especially the ad-supported kind – works according to a very different revenue model, and systems such as broadband streaming and downloading, could represent a new frontier to be explored and exploited. However, the posting of copyrighted content to web sites still presents challenges that remain to be litigated.
About the Broadband Consumer: Broadband access across the US has reached critical mass and is having a clear impact on user behaviour. According to Scarborough Research broadband consumers tend to have high speed web access virtually 24/7 – at work, at home and increasingly across an array of portable devices such as laptops, PDAs and mobile phones.
While only about nine per cent of US adults report spending 20 hours or more a week on the Internet, this number nearly doubles, to 17 per cent, among those with broadband access at home.
There is a strong correlation between education and Internet access, and the same holds true for broadband connections. Of the roughly one-third (33 per cent) of U.S. adults reside in households without any Internet connection, 69 per cent have only a high school degree or less. The comparable percentage for those in broadband households is one-third or 33 per cent.
Of all US adults, almost a quarter (24 per cent) have a college degree or greater. This number increases to 35 per cent among adults with broadband Internet access at home. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of those with post-graduate degrees have an Internet connection, and most of those have a broadband connection.
Broadband consumers are upscale: According to Scarborough’s findings, 17 per cent of consumers have an annual household income of $100,000 or more, compared to 28 pr cent of those with broadband connectivity. Less than a quarter (21 per cent) of all consumers live in homes worth $300,000 or more; but the figure is 30 per cent for those consumers with broadband in their household.
There is a clear generational divide in broadband adoption. The 18-34 demographic represents 34 per cent of those with broadband connectivity in their household. Though consumers 55+ are less likely than their 18-34 or 35-54 year-old counterparts to be broadband customers, broadband penetration among this older age group will likely increase. The 35-54 demographic is currently most likely to have home broadband access (45 per cent).
MAM
ASCI study uncovers how Gen Alpha navigates ads in endless digital feeds
‘What the Sigma?’ ethnographic report maps blurred boundaries between content and commerce for 7–15-year-olds.
MUMBAI: Gen Alpha isn’t scrolling through the internet, they’re living rent-free inside its never-ending dopamine drip, and the ads have already moved in next door. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) Academy, partnering with Futurebrands Consulting, has published ‘What the Sigma?’, an immersive ethnographic study that maps how Indian children aged 7–15 (Generation Alpha) consume, interpret and live alongside media and commercial messaging in a hyper-digital environment.
The research draws on in-home interviews, sibling and peer conversations, and discussions with parents, teachers, counsellors, psychologists, marketers and kidfluencers across six cities. It examines not only what children watch but how algorithms, content creators, peers and parents shape their relationship with the constant stream of shorts, vlogs, gameplay, memes, sponsored posts and ‘kid-ified’ adult material.
Five core themes emerged:
- Discontinuous Generation, Gen Alpha is not growing up alongside the internet, they are growing up inside it. Cultural references, humour, aesthetics and language sync globally in real time, often leaving adults functionally illiterate in their children’s world. A reference that lands instantly for a 10-year-old in Mumbai or Visakhapatnam feels opaque or disjointed to most parents.
- Authority Vacuum, Parents and teachers frequently lose cultural fluency in digital spaces. The algorithm responsive, inexhaustible and perfectly attuned to preferences becomes the most attentive presence in many children’s daily lives. Rules around screen time feel increasingly difficult to enforce when adults cannot fully see or understand the content landscape.
- Digital as Society, Online and offline no longer exist as separate realms, they form one continuous reality. The phone is not a tool children pick up; it is the primary social environment they inhabit.
- Great Media Mukbang, Content flows as an ambient, boundary-less, multi-sensorial stream. Entertainment, advertising, commerce, gameplay, memes and vlogs merge into one undifferentiated feed. The line between active choice and passive absorption has largely collapsed.
- Blurred Ad Recognition, Children aged 7–12 typically recognise only the most overt advertising formats. Influencer promotions, gaming integrations and vlog sponsorships often register as organic entertainment. Children aged 13–15 show greater ad literacy but remain highly susceptible to narrative-integrated, passion-driven and emotionally resonant brand messaging. Discernment remains low across the board in a non-stop stream.
ASCI CEO and secretary general Manisha Kapoor said, “ASCI Academy’s study is an investigation into the content life of Generation Alpha not to judge them but to understand them. Their cultural reference points seem disjointed from those of earlier generations. Insights on how they perceive advertising is the first step towards building more responsible engagement frameworks, given that they are the youngest media consumers in our country right now.”
Futurebrands Consulting founder and director Santosh Desai added, “While earlier generations have been exposed to digital media, for this generation it is the world they inhabit. This report explores not only what they watch but how they are being shaped by algorithms, content and advertising.”
The study proposes four adaptive, principles-led pathways:
- Universal signposting of commercial intent using design principles that make advertising recognisable even to young audiences.
- Ecosystem-wide responsibility shared among advertisers, platforms, creators, schools and parents.
- Future-ready safeguards built directly into children’s content experiences rather than as optional background settings.
- Formal media and advertising literacy embedded in school curricula to teach age-appropriate understanding of persuasion and commercial intent.
In a feed that never pauses, Gen Alpha isn’t merely watching content, they’re swimming in an ocean where entertainment, commerce and identity swirl together. The real question isn’t whether they can spot an ad; it’s whether the adults building the ocean can agree on where the lifeguards should stand.
