What’s causing the drop in games TV advertising?

2012 games and consoles TV activity up to February 12th has remained fairly static year-on-year, with a three per cent decline in individual TVRs.

This week we look at two of the key contributing factors to this change.

The number of campaigns that have been on air can be a good indicator of the health of the market. This year there have been four more campaigns on air (34 vs. 30), an increase of 13 per cent.

As we have already seen, however, the market is in a state of decline. This means the average weekly weight that each product has been supported by has decreased. In 2012, the average campaign has achieved seven fewer TVRs per week than in 2011. This signifies an overall 25 per cent decrease.

So the weight of advertising pressure by product has caused the slight decline.

In 2011, the top campaign up to February 12th was Nintendo’s Art Academy, amassing 240 TVRs. This year, Ubisoft’s Just Dance 3 has achieved 172 TVRs. This is a decline of 28 per cent.

What’s a TVR?

The TVR (Television Rating) is the measure of popularity for a programme or ad by comparing its audience to the population as a whole. One TVR is equivalent to one per cent of a target audience. So if Coronation Street achieved a Housewives TVR of 20 in Yorkshire it means that, on average, 20 per cent of all Housewives in Yorkshire watched it.

A campaign can achieve over 100 TVRs, however. But this does not mean that it has been seen by 100 per cent of the population, as TVRs only refer to the percentage of the population reached at the time of airing. So airing an ad during Corrie six times gives you 120 TVRs, but you may only be reaching the same 20 per cent of people.

Supplied byGeneration Media