Commercial TV audiences rise…

Commercial TV audiences have seen their biggest rise in four years thanks to growth from cable and satellite homes.

Adult commercial viewing has increased by one per cent in the first quarter of 1996 compared with the same period last year. This growth has been accounted for by a 30 per cent increase in commercial impacts – viewers of advertising – on cable and satellite.

ABC1 commercial impacts increased by five per cent during the period, driven by a 35 per cent rise in ABC1 viewers for cable and satellite channels. Total commercial viewing by 16 to 34-year-olds held steady but increased by 35 per cent on cable and satellite channels.

“Satellite and cable have helped commercial TV to buck the recent trend of decline,” says Simon Cox, broadcast director of CIA Medianetwork. “This growth has considerable significance for how TV airtime is being bought. If advertisers are not using cable and satellite TV they are limiting the coverage available to them and they are probably paying a higher price for their advertising.”

ITV commercial impacts fell last year, causing a furore about airtime inflation. This year, Channel 4’s audiences declined during the first quarter.