Political TV Ads Increasingly Not Seen by Voters, According to SAY Media’s “Voters Going Off the Grid: 2012” Research

Voters Are Watching More Video Through Digital Streaming and Mobile Devices; Florida and Ohio Voters Adopting Digital and Mobile Viewing Methods Faster Than National Average

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, SAY Media, announced the results of its latest “Voters Going Off the Grid: 2012” research study, which analyzed the shift in overall voter media consumption habits and its impact on political advertising effectiveness. Conducted in partnership with Targeted Victory, Public Opinion Strategies, Chong & Koster and SEA Polling, the results show a greater number of likely voters are not watching live TV and instead are using new methods to consume media, ranging from streaming video services to tablet and smartphone devices that make it easy to skip commercials.

“Simply put, it's impossible to reach the entire electorate without digital advertising and savvy buyers on both sides of the aisle are already following these voters online”

Key findings:

• More video content is streaming: In 2012, 42 percent of Americans likely to vote aren’t using live TV as their primary source of video content. Nearly half the total time watching video in a week is not on live TV.
• Voters are going mobile: Overall smartphone ownership is on the rise – nearly half of likely voters own a smartphone.
• Commercial skipping is increasing: Compared with last year’s results, while many likely voters still watch live TV, 32 percent skip commercials entirely when watching recorded TV from a DVR.
• Tablet adoption is on the rise: One third of likely voters own a tablet, providing a new channel for political ad campaigns to reach potential voters. Both Florida and Ohio are also seeing similar patterns reflected in their individual states, with about a third of likely voters owning tablets.
• Live TV viewership will decline: Nearly a quarter of likely voters plan to switch to digital streaming, compared to traditional providers, in one to two years.

“There is a fundamental shift away from modes and platforms that require the watching of interruptive TV ads,” said David Tokheim, senior vice president media solutions at SAY Media. “We’ve been delivering engagement for years and our “Off The Grid” targeting solution helps marketers reach the growing number of people who are not watching live television, something that has become incredibly challenging this election cycle.”

"Politics is a zero sum game and choosing to ignore such a large group of voters who are “off the grid” could prove fatal," said Michael Beach of Targeted Victory.

The battle for votes in Florida and Ohio

This study also focused on the key battleground states of Florida and Ohio, which could make all the difference in the Presidential election, to evaluate mobile adoption rates and media consumption patterns,

Results show:

• Mobile adoption rates are higher in Florida and Ohio: In particular, Florida and Ohio, smartphone ownership has increased drastically, with 53 percent and 41 percent owning a smartphone in 2012, up 15 and 13 percent from last year respectively.
• More video content is streamed in Florida and Ohio: Fifty-two percent of voters in Florida have watched video via the Internet and 22 percent have watched through streaming in the past week, an increase from 44 percent and 10 percent last year respectively. Ohio voters are also streaming more video over the Internet. Forty-two percent are watching video on a laptop or PC in a week, a 5 percent increase from last year.

“Simply put, it's impossible to reach the entire electorate without digital advertising and savvy buyers on both sides of the aisle are already following these voters online,” said Josh Koster of Chong & Koster. “But more importantly, even the "on the grid" voters, including older demographics, are watching less live TV, and they're spending comparable amounts of time online. There's still a large group betting their entire political careers on the same media strategy they've been using for a decade and it’s going to be interesting to see how many people lose seats they should have held just because they bet against modern media.”

For more information on the 2012 “Voters Going Off the Grid” research study, please visit: www.saymedia.com/research

Methodology

In June 2012 SAY Media, conducted its second bipartisan study, co-authored by two digital media consultancies and two pollsters, representing both the right and left sides of the political spectrum. Targeted Victory and Public Opinion Strategies represented the Republican side, and Chong & Koster and SEA Polling represented the Democratic side. To best understand how the changing media landscape may impact a campaign’s ability to effectively and efficiently reach voters in the upcoming election, the team designed and fielded a national telephone survey among 800 likely voters June 20 to June 24, 2012. Furthermore, they surveyed an additional 332 likely voters in Ohio and 355 in Florida to understand how media trends impacted voters in key battleground states.

About SAY Media

SAY Media is a digital publishing company that creates amazing media brands. Through its technology platform and media services, SAY enables its portfolio of independent content creators to build passionate communities around key consumer interest areas such as Style, Living, Food and Tech. The company provides simple and accountable ways for the world’s top brands to engage with these passionate audiences, at scale, with a reach of more than 400 million people around the world. For more information visit www.saymedia.com