ABC Shares (Some) Results Of Video Trial; Player Resumes On ABC.com This Fall

The Disney-ABC Television Group made it official today — ie sent out the press release — the ad-supported ABC.com broadband player will be back in the fall even though the company has yet to finalize an agreement with affiliates. ABC released some of the results from internal servers and from survey research by Frank N. Magid Associates.
During the May and June trial:
— The player delivered more than 5.7 million episodes requests totaling 16 million streams.
— Most of the episodes were streamed with 24 hours of their first broadcast. According to the survey, about two-thirds watched complete episodes; partial views were attributed to having already seen the episode on TV or being interrupted. The number one reason for watching: missed it on TV.
— Most watched from home on desktops.
— 79 percent of those surveyed said the online viewing experience was positive; 87 percent said they were likely to recommend it to someone else.
— The demographics would appear to be just what ABC and advertisers wanted: average age 29, more than half college students, 47 percent male/53 percent female.
— On the ad front, the company already had reported an 87 percent recall rate for the advertiser who sponsored the episode they watched. To that — irony alert — they add that 84 percent believe that they got a “great deal” by exchanging viewing ads for the free online episode. No word on whether they feel the same way about watching ads in exchange for TV programs.
Update: Just talked to an ABC spokeswoman for a little more clarity on the stats. Each episode could contain up to four streams, corresponding to the number of sponsor breaks. ABC.com served about 3 million streams in the first 20 days and another 8 million as season finales aired for three of the shows — Lost, Desperate Housewives and Alias. Another five million were served in June, when Commander in Chief ended and re-runs began.
Related: Iger Updates ABC.com Numbers; About 3 Million Streams Served
Four ABC Affiliates Will Participate In Streaming Trial<
First Look: ABC.com’s Ad-Supported Streaming “Experiment”

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