Why are Alternate Delivery Systems (ADS)
an Issue for Advertisers?
Imagine your reaction if you discovered that the pump at your local filling station rang up 10 gallons of gasoline but your car only got seven. How about getting billed for daily home delivery of the local newspaper but you didn't get Mondays and Thursdays? Well, something similar is happening to local cable advertisers when they use their local market Nielsen books to get a handle on cable delivery in their DMA.

Local cable advertisers are getting shortchanged.

Advertisers who buy cable locally need to know that local wired cable systems' ability to deliver commercials continues to erode. In fact, 33 markets now have ADS penetration of 50% or more.

Here's why it's a problem: ADS subscribers cannot receive local commercials in national cable programming.

The penetration of alternative delivery systems, mostly due to the growth of direct satellite transmission, is accelerating and is cutting into wired cable's delivery for local advertisers. Beginning with the November 2003 survey, Nielsen began publishing audience estimates for wired cable households in the Total Viewing Sources DVD file. This new data is not published in the hard-copy Viewers in Profile Reports. Many advertisers will need to continue to make ADS deductions manually. If deductions are not made, advertisers risk paying for eyeballs that just aren't there. Ask your third party processor when this new data will be available on-line for your use.

There is no question that we are talking about bigger and bigger ADS numbers. More American TV households are receiving programming via ADS than ever before, according to a TVB analysis of Nielsen Media Research data for July 2010 (the most recently available figures). According to Nielsen, ADS penetration reached 30.5% of all homes in May, up from 28.6% a year earlier.

In some markets the disparity between Nielsen-reported audiences and the reality is extreme. Here are two examples of the magnitude of the phenomenon: in Shreveport, 64.7% of the subscription TV homes (those paying for video delivery) are receiving television programming via ADS, and in the No. 5 Dallas/Ft. Worth market, a local advertiser's delivery is cut by 44.2%.



Top 10 in Markets 1-50
 

DMA
Name

ADS as %
TV HH

ADS as %
Subscription
TV HH*

1

Albuquerque-Santa Fe

44.0

53.0

2

Salt Lake City

41.1

49.1

3

Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-And

45.3

48.7

4

Birmingham (Ann and Tusc)

44.9

48.1

5

Memphis

41.8

46.4

6

St. Louis

40.0

44.8

7

Dallas-Ft. Worth

37.4

44.2

8

Denver

39.2

43.3

9

Sacramnto-Stkton-Modesto

39.0

43.2

10

Phoenix (Prescott)

36.4

42.1
       

* Wired cable, telco, or ADS systems such as satellite.
     

Top 10 in Markets 51-100
 

DMA
Name

ADS as %
TV HH

ADS as %
Subscription
TV HH*

1

Springfield, MO

53.3

64.9

2

Shreveport

59.1

64.7

3

Paducah-Cape Girard-Harsbg

55.1

60.5

4

Roanoke-Lynchburg

52.4

57.6

5

Fresno-Visalia

46.3

57.1

6

Jackson, MS

50.9

55.4

7

Little Rock-Pine Bluff

50.6

55.4

8

Spokane

45.6

53.0

9

Colorado Springs-Pueblo

44.1

51.8

10

South Bend-Elkhart

40.1

49.2
       

* Wired cable, telco, or ADS systems such as satellite.
       

Top 10 in Markets 100+
 

DMA
Name

ADS as %
TV HH

ADS as %
Subscription
TV HH*

1

Boise

46.7

64.6

2

Meridian

56.8

63.4

3

Columbus-Tupelo-W Pnt-Hstn

55.9

62.9

4

Chico-Redding

53.4

61.7

5

Columbia-Jefferson City

52.8

60.6

6

Tyler-Longview(Lfkn&Ncgd)

56.1

60.5

7

Abilene-Sweetwater

54.1

59.9

8

Sherman-Ada

50.8

57.6

9

Missoula

47.5

57.4

10

Yakima-Pasco-Rchlnd-Knnwck

50.3

57.3
       

* Wired cable, telco, or ADS systems such as satellite.
       
Source: Nielsen Media Research/NSI, July 2010
 
Click here to view ADS penetration by DMA.
TVB has prepared a PowerPoint presentation explaining the evolution of ADS, its growth in recent years and its implications for advertisers. It is an excellent training presentation. Click here to view and download the presentation. (The presentation might take a few moments to download, please be patient.)
 
Click here to arrange for TVB to present the ADS PowerPoint, in person or via web conference.
   



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