TV Commercials Survey: Traditional Viewers Most Likely to Watch Commercials

Many Americans have changed the way they view their favorite TV shows. From DVRs that record shows to streaming services like Netflix, fewer and fewer viewers are watching traditional television. And some advertisers are worried that these new methods are impacting how many are seeing TV commercials. How many consumers still pay attention to commercials, and how do newer viewing methods impact these viewing habits?

TV Viewers

In Ask Your Target Market’s latest survey, 69% of respondents said that they watch TV every day. 14% said they watch TV several times per week. 5% said they watch TV just about once per week. 9% said they rarely watch TV. And only 5% said that they never watch television. Just 12% of TV viewers said that they always watch the commercials that accompany their favorite shows. 56% said they watch TV commercials sometimes. 9% said they normally change the channel when commercials come on. 19% said they simply don’t pay any attention to TV commercials. And 3% said they don’t watch TV shows that have commercials.

DVR Viewers

18% of TV viewers said that they always record shows to watch at a later time. 24% said they record shows sometimes. 17% said they rarely use a DVR to record TV shows. And 42% said they never record shows to watch later. Of those who record TV shows to watch later, 35% said they always skip over the commercials when they do so. Another 47% said they sometimes skip over the commercials. 12% said they rarely skip the commercials. And just 6% of DVR viewers said they never skip over the commercials when they watch recorded shows.

Online Viewers

7% of respondents said that they watch shows online or through streaming services every day. 17% said they watch TV online several times per week. 14% said they watch about once per week. 30% said they rarely watch TV shows online or through streaming services. And 32% said they never do.Of those viewers who watch TV online, just 10% said they always watch commercials with these shows. 36% said they sometimes watch advertisements when watching shows online or through streaming services. 24% said that the services or sites they watch do not normally have commercials. And 31% of these viewers said that they don’t pay attention to commercials when watching TV online. You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.Photo Credit: Scratch and Dent World, Daytona TV Commercial from FlickrWhat do you want to know? If you need some consumer insights on a particular topic, let us know in the comments below and we’ll consider it for an upcoming survey post.

Results were collected on December 9 via AYTM’s online survey panel.