Research
How to reach teen TV viewers? Try TV.
By Kevin Downey
Sep 11, 2007 - 11:00:05 AM

With the new television season about to get underway, the networks are facing another year of struggling to lure teenagers to broadcast TV and the new teen-skewing shows.

The best way to do that, it turns out, is a bit old-fashioned.

More than 50 percent of teens in a study released yesterday say they hear about TV shows from commercials and promotional spots airing on the networks, a far higher percentage than any other source.

As it turns out, teenagers are only somewhat less likely than adults to hear about new shows on TV commercials and promos, says Ben Spergel, vice president of media and entertainment insight at OTX. The Los Angeles research firm conducted a survey of 750 teenagers last month in conjunction with eCrush, a young-skewing social-networking site.

“That makes sense,” Spergel says. “From what we know from the tracking we do with the general population, TV is the most effective way to reach a mass audience. And teens are clearly still watching TV. They are getting their information from TV and other people.”

The second most-common way teenagers hear about TV shows is word of mouth, with 33 percent hearing about shows from friends and 28 percent saying they hear about programs from other kids in school.

What has changed in recent years is that more teenagers than ever are finding out about TV shows through internet ads and in-theater commercials.

In fact, 26 percent of teenagers say they learn about shows from internet advertising. Just below that is in-theater advertising, with 25 percent of teens hearing about shows from these commercials. About 19 percent learn about TV shows from television network web sites.

Only 11 percent of teens hear about a show on social-networking sites and 7 percent read about shows on blogs.

“Teens may not be finding information from networking sites and blogs, but clearly they are on the internet, and they’re constantly navigating from one site to the other,” says Spergel. “We do know that once they’re there, they’re seeing ads.”

Family members are also influential, with 23 percent of teens saying they learn about new shows from other family members.

Magazine ads are influential among 22 percent of teens, while 16 percent hear about shows from radio commercials.

Only 11 percent of teenagers hear about TV shows from outdoor ads, which isn’t surprising given the age group, while 7 percent learn about shows from newspaper ads.

Meanwhile, most teenagers, 70 percent, say they’ll watch TV shows this fall when the show originally airs on a network, meaning 30 percent plan to watch programs some other way.

About 21 percent of teens say they’ll watch shows recorded on a DVR, while 9 percent say they will watch on video-on-demand and 7 percent plan to download programs.

The young-skewing CW does well in the OTX survey, having the most shows teenagers plan to watch this fall.

The network’s “Gossip Girl” ranked No. 1, followed by NBC’s “Bionic Woman,” CBS’s controversial reality show “Kid Nation,” ABC’s sitcom “Cavemen” and its drama “Pushing Daisies.”

The CW’s new “Reaper,” about a 21-year-old whose parents sold his soul to the devil, is next and tied with Fox’s “Nashville” and “Next Great American Band.” That’s followed by the CW comedy “Aliens in America.”