AMC Partners with Nielsen to Develop Identity Metric that Segments Audience by Viewer Preferences and Behaviors
Network Also Creates Research Tool to Better Measure Audience Ad Receptivity
New York, NY – April 7, 2008 – Bolstered by continued original programming successes, Golden Globe and Emmy Awards, and ratings momentum, AMC is heading into the Upfront season with a new Audience Identity Metric (AIM) consisting of new audience measurement tools to better enable television advertisers to deliver their messages to the right audience, in the right environment, at the right time. In partnership with The Nielsen Company, AMC has created an "Identity" metric that segments the network's audience in a new way – by behavior – and is inspired by the notion of behavioral targeting that drives much of the Internet's advertising and its claims of greater accountability. AMC has also developed a new "Ad Vantage" metric which provides a new way for advertisers to measure ad receptivity, not just on AMC but across the industry, to determine the utility of audiences that stay with programming during commercial breaks. Both tools work together to help advertisers better understand the specific audiences they are targeting as well as the effectiveness of their campaigns.
"AMC is pleased to lead the charge in creating metrics and guarantees that allow television advertisers to better target viewers on-air and better measure audience behavior, engagement and ad receptivity," said Charlie Collier, AMC's general manager and executive vice president. "We think we've found a better way to combine what has historically been the domain of media planners-behavioral and lifestyle targeting-with what media buyers have refined over the years-effective media buying against demographic targets."
Moving beyond simple demographics and genre preferences, AMC's "Identity" metric keys in on distinct differences in consumer preferences and behaviors to identify and target those viewers most likely to watch and to be engaged by a particular mix of AMC film titles and originals.
"This is a customizable tool that introduces a significant advancement in how television advertising can be evaluated," said Holly Leff Pressman, executive vice president and general manager, Nielsen Entertainment. "This metric was developed to provide more value to advertisers as they target specific audiences beyond age and gender demographics. It sets AMC apart, shedding valuable insights into what types of viewers are watching the network."
"Our new 'Identity' metric is a more sophisticated tool for advertisers to 'hyper-target' audiences," said Bill Rosolie, executive vice president, Advertising Sales, AMC. "By segmenting viewers based on behaviors and psychographic qualities, this tool begins to bring the advertising benefits of the Web to television, allowing marketers to increase the effectiveness of their campaigns and finally move towards true behavioral targeting on television. It enables us to help clients create schedules that deliver not only a specific demographic but also specific behavioral characteristics-and AMC is willing to guarantee it."
"We chose to partner with Nielsen because they represent the industry currency," said Charlene Weisler-Schwarzkopf, senior vice president, Research, Rainbow Media. "To create this new metric, we worked with Nielsen to conduct a broad audience research and ad effectiveness study that examined audience attributes including: viewing patterns; affinity and engagement with television programming and networks; genre and title preferences; psychographic and personality dimensions; and technology consumption. The data yielded different distinct and measurable psychographic and behavioral characteristics that allow AMC to hyper-target groups of viewers based on these characteristics."
Given the iconic nature of so many of AMC's titles, stars and themes, viewers are naturally receptive to a broad range of titles from AMC's library. Based on viewer attributes and preferences, AMC is able to create customized advertising packages that will better deliver specific targets for advertisers.
While the 'Identity' portion of AIM illustrates that a broad-reach network such as AMC can also hyper-target a group of viewers against stated advertiser needs, AMC's new 'Ad Vantage' metric focuses on audience engagement, giving advertisers a tool to measure television environment and viewers' high levels of ad receptivity across all networks.
According to Nielsen audience retention data and a recent Simmons engagement study*, AMC can show network retention ranking not just based on who stays through breaks but, much more importantly, who stays and who is receptive to the advertising. AMC's Ad Vantage metric takes a quality-focused approach to ad effectiveness at a time when much of the industry's focus is on counting eyeballs.
Multiple studies show that AMC has a very effective advertising environment, scoring in the top 10 of all networks against multiple effectiveness attributes. AMC viewers are more likely to trust, rely on, recommend and purchase products based on advertising seen on the network and viewers regard advertising on AMC as "interesting," "appealing" and "unique."
"Our audience's high level of engagement has a lot to do with our movies being highly personal and evoking an emotional response and connection in viewers. As such, they tend to attract viewers who opt-in and make an active choice to watch," said Rosolie. "We have a distinctive way of showcasing our movies: we don't just schedule them, we 'curate' them. This research demonstrates, as other sources have before, that this high-quality, distinctive AMC environment results in a more highly-engaged audience, which in turn creates a kind of 'halo' effect for advertising appearing on the network."
It is within this context that AMC's Ad Vantage index works-identifying the core audience that stays engaged with the network during ads and quantifying their level of ad receptivity.
Added Collier: "Ad Vantage identifies for advertisers how many engaged viewers the network retains through commercials, while our Identity metric reveals who those viewers are and what they like. Together they comprise AIM, giving advertisers a much clearer picture of AMC's high-quality, targeted environment so they are able to create much more effective campaigns. These advertiser tools bring an important, added new dimension to AMC at a time when the network continues to receive incredible buzz and acclaim for maintaining a track record of creating some of the best dramas on cable."
About AMC
AMC is a multi-platform network that celebrates classic movies and high-quality scripted series. Among the elite services reaching over 94,000,000 homes, AMC defines what it means to be a classic movie network today, creating a distinctive viewing experience that celebrates all that is enduringly cool, personal and powerfully relevant about movies. AMC's comprehensive library of popular movies strike a meaningful chord with its audience, and its critically-acclaimed slate of originals all have a cinematic quality that allow them to complement and be complemented by some of the best movies of all time. A division of Rainbow Media Entertainment Services, AMC's sister divisions include WE tv and IFC TV. AMC is THE FUTURE OF CLASSIC.
About Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC). Rainbow Media is a leading producer of targeted, multi-platform content for global distribution, creating and managing some of the world's most compelling and dynamic entertainment brands, including AMC, IFC, WE tv, LIFESKOOL, SPORTSKOOL, and VOOM HD Networks. Through its IFC Entertainment division, Rainbow Media also owns and manages the following: IFC Films, a theatrical feature film distribution company; IFC First Take/IFC in Theaters, a day and date theatrical feature film/VOD initiative; the IFC Center in New York City; IFC Productions, a feature film production company; and IFC Entertainment, which owns and operates a film library. Rainbow Media also operates Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation, its advertising sales company, and Rainbow Network Communications, its full service network programming origination and distribution company.
*Source: C3 based on Nielsen Jan 2008 M-Su 8-11A18-49 ratings retention index. Simmons 2007 Engagement study w1-w4, highest ad receptivity A18-49. View networks 4+ times a week.