TV ads skipped by most timeshift viewers

Almost 90% of people skip through the adverts around recorded programming on their digital video recorders, new research has revealed.

Ofcom recently reported that the proportion of timeshifted viewing has more than tripled since 2006, from 1.7% to 5.9%, largely due to the growing use of DVRs such as Sky+ or Freeview+.

According to a new YouGov survey compiled for Deloitte, 86% of DVR users fast-forward through the adverts while watching timeshifted programming.

However, the research - conducted for the MediaGuardian Edinburgh international television festival - also indicated that 52% of respondents believe that TV ads are the most memorable form of advertising, ahead of newspapers (10%), online video (2%) and online banner ads (1%).

Almost half of the respondents (48%) said that shorter ad breaks would encourage people to watch more advertising, while a third (32%) believe that more memorable campaigns would help retain people's interest.

Speaking to The Guardian, Deloitte media partner James Bates said: "Questions over the relevance of the traditional television advert have been raised for years, yet when asked about their most favoured video format, respondents voted for the standard 30-second commercial.

"Online advertising's poor showing relative to television may surprise, given that the former has often been portrayed as television's nemesis. What television does best - display and brand building - is what online struggles with. Online advertising is best at search, which previously newspapers, particularly for classified, had excelled at."

He added: "However, despite the positive perception of television advertising, its bed of roses is not free of mildew. Among television advertising's greatest preoccupations is measurability. While television generates billions of commercial impacts every day, it is hard to measure precisely how many of these are viewed."

The YouGov survey of 4,199 respondents was conducted via online interview between July 9 and July 12 this year.

Also today, WPP, the world's largest advertising group, posted pre-tax profits of £244 million in the first half of 2010, up 36% year-on-year. The firm's revenue was up more than 3% to £4.441 billion.