TV News & Sports- Broadcast Live and Streaming Online- Are Auto Advertising Hot Spots, J.D. Power Auto Media Report Finds

COSTA MESA, CA -- January 27, 2016: While the landscape of media consumption is changing, new-vehicle drivers continue to watch broadcast news and sports programs, both live on TV and streaming online. The consumption of news and sports programs is at a similar rate as in 2015, with sports being a hot spot for auto advertisers to place ads, according to the J.D. Power 2016 U.S. Automotive Media and Marketing ReportSM—Winter edition, released today.

The report, conducted since 1987, provides a comprehensive strategic perspective on the factors that influence new-vehicle purchases, as well as attitudinal, lifestyle, recreational and media consumption behaviors.

As traditional TV faces stiff competition from Internet content and video streaming services, the top two types of shows new-vehicle drivers most frequently watch remain the same as last year: news/news programming (46%) and sports (42%), followed by situational comedies (33%) and dramas (28%). Among new-vehicle drivers, 64% are using video streaming services such as YouTube, Netflix or Amazon Prime. Drivers younger than 35 years old are far more likely to use streaming video services (92%) than those between the ages of 35 and 54 (79%) and 55 years and older (49%). Additionally, 47% of new-vehicle drivers use their DVR to record programs and fast-forward through commercials.

"Sports may be one of the last remaining juggernauts in broadcast advertising, because it is the type of programming that people have a tendency to watch live," said Dave Sargent, vice president, global automotive, J.D. Power. "That is why automakers place so many commercials during sports programs—people are watching live and are likely to see the ads."

That's good news for advertisers. Of the 23 sports measured in the study, professional football is the most frequently watched sport among new-vehicle drivers (42%), followed by college football (29%) and baseball (20%). Drivers of U.S. domestic brands, specifically drivers of Cadillac, Chrysler and Ram vehicles, tend to watch professional football more frequently than drivers of Asian or European vehicles.

Sargent noted that advertisers will likely spend as much as $5 million for a 30-second spot during the upcoming Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7. "The Super Bowl is unique in that a large portion of the audience watches as much for the commercials as for the game itself," said Sargent. "Many of the more memorable commercials we've seen during previous Super Bowls have been from automakers."

TV is not the only way to reach new-vehicle drivers, as they are also actively engaged with other advertising media. Magazine readership has increased in the past year, and each week drivers spend an average of 13 hours on the Internet for personal use and 19 hours listening to radio.

Following are some of the key findings of the 2016 winter report:

Advertising to the Target Audience: Certain types of television programming attract certain brand owners. For example, Scion and Mitsubishi drivers have a propensity to watch adult animation shows; Porsche and Jaguar drivers are more likely to watch financial programs; and Chevrolet and Jeep drivers tend to favor reality/competition shows.

Top TV Shows: The top favorite regularly scheduled TV shows among new-vehicle drivers are "The Walking Dead," "NCIS," "The Voice" and "The Big Bang Theory."

Who's Fast-Forwarding?: New-vehicle drivers between the ages of 35 and 54 (54%) and those reporting a household income of $100,000 or more (57%) are most likely to fast-forward through television commercials.

Hitting the Newsstands: Magazine readership increases, with new-vehicle drivers reading an average of 7.9 magazines, up from 7.6 in the 2015 study. Drivers of premium brand vehicles read more magazines than drivers of non-premium vehicles (9.2 vs. 7.7, respectively), and women read more magazines than men (9.0 vs. 7.1).

The 2016 U.S. Automotive Media and Marketing Report—Winter is based on a nationwide survey of 27,308 principal drivers of recently purchased or leased new vehicles. The report is based on owners who acquired their vehicle between May 2014 and April 2015.