Do Commercials Survive The Zombie Apocalypse? 

April 2013

By Jeff Boehme, CRO Kantar Media Audiences, North America

For 3 seasons, AMC’s “The Walking Dead” has consistently delivered some of the highest ratings in television – and not just among cable networks. Advertisers are also flocking to the carnage, as edgy dramas are a favorite viewing choice for young and affluent consumers.

Instead of scaring off advertisers in the wake of walking corpses devouring the living, “The Walking Dead” has attracted a strong following across all media, connecting the brand across multiple screens and applications. In fact, many marketers approached the producers to integrate their products within the mayhem. Hyundai was successful in negotiating product placements for their Tucson vehicle within multiple episodes. What better way to convey the benefits of a 2012 Institute of Highway Safety pick than with cast members narrowly escaping hordes of ravenous zombies – in safety, style and comfort?  

But how loyal are “The Walking Dead” fans during commercial breaks? Are these viewers running from commercials as fast as cast members from more imminent slaughter? How about the impact of DVRs and time shifting? We turned to our return path data (RPD) to determine how this highly engaged audience reacts with program and advertising content, both live and time shifted. In examining the 3rd season February premiere episode, we analyzed the second/second audience patterns isolate audience behavior during commercials and ad avoidance.

Our analysis indicates that while the “The Walking Dead” is among the strongest primetime programs in terms of audience size, viewers are no more likely to watch the commercials than for other shows. “The Walking Dead” performs similarly to all primetime programming with an average commercial tuning index (CTI) of 87 for ‘live’ tuning (exact commercial rating divided by program rating). 

However, the results are dramatically different with DVR tuning across 3 days. The average CTI+3 for all primetime commercials is about 84 – for “The Walking Dead”, however, the average commercial lost over half of the program’s audience when time-shifted, averaging a CTI live+3 of 48.9.

AMC’s The Walking Dead season premiere HH RPD Ratings 2/10/13 9:00-10:02PM

For both the viewers, advertisers and cast members, it seems clear – ‘live’ is a distinct advantage in commercial retention.. It seems the best method of escaping this zombie ad retention apocalypse is to integrate ads within the program. Product placements are much tougher to skip over, making AMCadoption of this tactic a smart way to retain the  most value from is large and loyal audience.  

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