TVision Insights and Mediahub Test the Power of TV Engagement over Ratings

Ground-Breaking Second-by-Second TV Programming Measurement from TVision Insights Puts a Focus on Audience Attention and Engagement for Mediahub Clients

Boston, MA – January 12, 2016 – TVision Insights, the company that is changing the way TV researchers measure attention, and Mediahub, the media arm of the advertising agency Mullen Lowe, today announced findings from Mediahub’s use of TVision’s solution for second-by-second data insight into viewer engagement with television programming and advertising in the Boston market from April - June 2015.

TVision provides a level of research and information into TV viewer attention and reaction that advertising agencies have been unable to access before. Since Mediahub is committed to giving its clients access to the best data to make effective television ad buys the company engaged with TVision for several clients.

According to Steve Kalb, SVP and Director of Video Investments for Mediahub and Mullen Lowe,

“TVision’s passive analysis of TV viewer attention and reaction enabled us to understand different advertisements’ effectiveness in garnering audience attention on different networks and programs in a key market. While standard ratings data can tell us about viewership and household demographics, TVision takes it a step further and provides the contextual analysis to understand true TV attention and engagement at every second, and how specific advertisements perform in terms of attention and reaction. It marries the positive aspects of both TV and digital video measurement data. Because of that, TVision has the potential to positively disrupt and evolve the way our industry plans and buys media and measures the effectiveness of creative.”

Findings from Mediahub’s first market test of TVision include:

Viewer Engagement Matters More than Ratings

• Family programming may be historically under-valued as data showed that audiences were more likely to pay closer attention when co-viewing programming. As the number of people in the room increased, the number of distractions from the programming decreased.
• In this particular test, data from TVision’s second-by-second analysis confirmed that in the morning a lower percentage of viewers are in the room when the TV is on, and fewer are engaged with the programming.
• Since live television, such as sports, kept viewers more engaged and attentive the commercials shown on sports channels had better returns. Mediahub confirmed that 15 second spots with a strong climax and brand recognition audio outperformed placements on traditional programming.

A Brand’s Congruency with Programming and Commercial Brevity Can Potentially Increase Performance

• Mediahub saw that viewers were significantly more likely to pay attention to a commercial when the brand and the programming were contextually linked.
• The test also showed that the shorter duration and careful channel and programming placement combined to increase the effectiveness of creative. For one client 15-second ads garnered four times the attention of 30 second ads when the brand, channel and program were congruent.

“If you want to understand the effectiveness of what’s on screen, you need to measure actual eyes on screen,” said Yan Liu, CEO of TVision Insights. “Our software and data help agencies like Mediahub understand in room behavior and audience attention second-by-second, person-by-person to television programming and advertising. This means our clients know exactly who their ads reach and what part of the message resonated best with the audience.”

About TVision

TVision is the only company to measure actual “eyes-on-screen” to provide advertisers, agencies, and television networks the second-by-second data required to understand the effectiveness of television advertising and programming.  TVision leverages state-of-the-art computer vision technology to anonymously and passively collect viewer behavior, attention, and emotional affect second-by-second, person-by-person from the natural viewing environment, without impacting privacy. TVision was founded by two MIT alumni, a Northeastern University professor and is a 2015 MassChallenge winner. The company is headquartered in Boston, MA with offices in New York City and Tokyo.