FOX & Twitter Examine Value of Earned TV Twitter Audience

FOX Broadcasting Company (FOX), Twitter and the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) today announced new research exploring the value of the earned audience that media companies and brands gain from TV and brand-related tweets. Using Twitter's capability to survey users on Twitter.com and the Twitter mobile app via homepage recruitment, the study, "Discovering the Value of Earned Audience - How Twitter Expressions Activate Consumers," uncovered that:

1. The majority of those who are exposed to TV-related tweets not only have taken immediate action around a given show, but are also highly likely to watch a show they've never watched before, or resume watching a show that they'd previously stopped watching, as a result of a TV-related tweet.

2. TV show viewers who recall seeing tweets mentioning a show's brand partners are much more likely to view that brand as appealing and pay more attention to that brand's on-air ads than the general Twitter TV audience.

Specifically, FOX, Twitter and the ARF found that the majority of those who recall seeing TV-related tweets have searched for a show (76%), have taken action on Twitter (78%) - such as click on the show's hashtag, follow a talent handle or retweet TV-related tweets - or have taken action to watch TV show content (77%). In regards to watching TV show content, 42% have made a plan to watch the show later, 38% have watched episodes online and 33% have changed the channel to watch the show. In fact, viewers who live-tweet with the linear broadcast are more likely to take action to discover content than those that don't live-tweet.

Tweets that mention brands also generate significant action: 54% of those who recall seeing such tweets have taken action by tweeting, searching for the brand online, or considering to try the brand mentioned. This jumps to 58% when measuring actions taken by the live-TV-tweeting audience.

"This groundbreaking research has allowed us, for the very first time, to understand and quantify the very real value of the enormous volume of tweets generated by our shows and our brand partners every week," said Judit Nagy, FOX's Vice President of Analytics. "The level of engagement, activity and perceptual impact we're seeing from these results far exceeds what we'd expected, and that's really good news for networks and brands alike."

"We know that Twitter is a complement to TV for audiences, and we've seen that running Twitter media alongside TV media drives greater TV ad effectiveness. This new research helps us better understand the role earned media plays in driving cross-channel effectiveness. It's great to see more evidence that Twitter is driving results for brands and TV networks," said Jeffrey Graham, Global Director of Advertising Research, Twitter.

In addition, the synergy between TV media and Twitter is so strong that there is a marked difference among the Twitter-engaged audience in receptivity to ads running in the shows they love to tweet about. For example, with a popular program like "American Idol," the study found that Twitter-engaged "Idol" viewers demonstrated a 16% higher level of favorability after seeing tweets that included mentions of the brand and up to 14% higher intent to purchase that brand's products versus the total Twitter TV audience. Additionally, the study found that after seeing a brand's on-air advertisement, a viewer is more likely to remember seeing a tweet from that brand (48%), and 52% of viewers either visit the brand's website, search for promotions online, consider trying the brand or search for the brand online.

Gayle Fuguitt, CEO and President of the ARF, commented on the significance of this research. "This leading edge research reflects the ARF's commitment to showcasing cross-platform measurement that truly reflects the way consumers consume media today. The ARF is dedicated to creating dialogue and inspiring insights that will drive the growth of America's fastest growing companies and technologies. We are very pleased to share this important research in more detail with the 2,500 industry colleagues attending our Re:Think 2014 conference."

The study, fielded by research consultancy db5 on behalf of FOX and Twitter, looked at 12,577 people recruited on Twitter.com and the Twitter mobile app over a two-week period. Participants were surveyed within 24 hours of Primetime Twitter activity (next day beginning around noon local time), ensuring a random, yet robust sample of individuals engaging on the Twitter platform during a time of day with high TV usage. The research blended behavioral data as well as self-reported media exposure to help FOX, Twitter and the ARF segment the data by viewer types, as well as gauge tweet recall and each individual's subsequent behavior both on Twitter and off. In addition, the survey observed Twitter exposure and engagement across major brands, including three who were FOX partners.

Additional findings include:

· Twitter-Engaged TV Viewers Tweet 24/7: While the majority (72%) of TV tweeters do so when they watch the live broadcast, 60% also said they tweet about TV shows when they are NOT watching them; and 58% tweet about TV shows while they watch on time-shifted platforms like OnDemand, Hulu, iTunes and Amazon.

· Actors/Talent Are Most Preferred Source: The majority of the Twitter audience exposed to TV Tweets prefer (Top 2 Box) to see tweets from Actor/Cast (40%); Friends/Family (26%); and official show handles (18%).

· TV Tweets Drive More on Twitter, Other Social Platforms: 78% take immediate action after seeing a TV Tweet, 41% click on the show's hashtag to find out more information; 39% retweet a show tweet; and 35% follow an actor/judge/talent on Twitter. In addition, 60% took immediate action on other social platforms.

About The Advertising Research Foundation

Founded in 1936 by the Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies, the ARF is dedicated to aggregating, creating and distributing research-based knowledge that will help members make better business decisions. ARF members include more than 400 advertisers, advertising agencies, associations, research firms and media-tech companies. The ARF is the only organization that brings all members of the industry to the same table for strategic collaboration. The ARF celebrates more than 75 years as the industry's authoritative source of advertising knowledge. The ARF is located at 432 Park Ave. South, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10016 and on the Web at www.thearf.org

About FOX Broadcasting Company

FOX Broadcasting Company (FOX), a unit of 21st Century Fox, is home to some of the highest-rated and most acclaimed series on television, including AMERICAN IDOL, THE FOLLOWING, NEW GIRL, GLEE, BROOKLYN NINE-NINE, The Simpsons and SLEEPY HOLLOW. The network ranked No. 1 in the key adult demographic for eight of the past 10 seasons and continues to dominate all network competition in the more targeted Adults 18-34 and Teen demographics. FOX airs 15 hours of Primetime programming a week as well as late-night entertainment programming, major sports and Sunday morning news. Follow the network on Twitter @FOXTV and "Like" FOX on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FOXTV. For additional information about FOX, please visit www.fox.com.

About Twitter

Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) is a global platform for public self-expression and conversation in real time. By developing a fundamentally new way for people to create, distribute and discover content, we have democratized content creation and distribution, enabling any voice to echo around the world instantly and unfiltered. The service can be accessed at Twitter.com, via the Twitter mobile application and via text message. Available in more than 35 languages, Twitter has more than 240 million monthly active users. For more information, visit discover.twitter.com or follow @twitter.

About db5

db5, founded in 2009, is a research consultancy specializing in quantitative research for brands and their creative partners. db5 is different from any other research agency in three important ways: Talent, Technology, Tenacity.

1. Employs and partners with only the most extraordinary talent from the worlds of Brand Marketing, Advertising, Technology and Traditional Research Practice.

2. Integrates cutting edge technology into traditional research methodologies.

3. Is tenacious; if a better way exists db5 finds it; if not, db5 creates it.

db5's only goal is to help its clients succeed by providing them a more profound understanding of its audience. db5 clients include automotive, consumer and IT brands, like AT&T, McDonald's, Audi, Vice, Time Warner Cable, Beats, Joint Juice, Twitter, UPS, Facebook, Yahoo!, Hyundai and Toyota. For more information, please visit www.dogsbollocks5.com

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