September 27, 2023
Uncovering
TV-MA Audiences:
The Power of Bold Storytelling for Advertisers
by
Disney Advertising
Given that TV-MA content has become increasingly prominent across Hulu and FX with hits like Only Murders in the Building, Prey and The Bear, we set out to understand if mature content has any impact on the brands advertising within it.
With this in mind, we leveraged two methodologies:
1) We surveyed our Disney Dialogue panel*
2) We developed a custom study that matched Nielsen Audience Ratings to Parental Content Ratings from Gracenote to get a better sense of the linear viewer and their behavior as it pertains to TV-MA content.
Here’s a look at what we learned:
TV-MA viewers fall into
advertisers’ core demographic
The TV-MA audience is appealing: they’re young, affluent and diverse.
TV-MA Viewers Are…
153 Index
among A18-34
52%
(Index 146)
110 Index
(39% of audience)
59%
(Index 110)
115 index
TWDC Content
TV-MA content is popular
and award-winning
It’s no surprise that award-winning content attracts viewers, making this a premium environment for advertisers.
On Hulu, we see that
of TV-MA impressions are from The Handmaid’s Tale and Only Murders in the Building, which were nominated for 10 Primetime Emmys in 2022.
We also saw that
of FX Networks’ TV-MA impressions are from 7 films which collectively grossed over $1.4 billion in the box office domestically: Bohemian Rhapsody, Mission Impossible: Fallout, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The Equalizer 2, Deadpool, Venom, and The Fate of the Furious.
A TV-MA rating doesn’t
negatively impact Disney viewers’ impression of advertisers within that content
We also asked Disney viewers how they feel about ads that are in TV-MA content. 73% agree that a TV-MA rating does not negatively impact their impression of the content of the advertisers.
They shared:
Case Study:
SPONSORS SEE SUCCESS IN TV-MA CONTENT
In a recent integration study, we found that 55% of viewers believe that advertising in shows with controversial topics does not affect brand perceptions. In fact, compared to the control group, brands integrated into TV-MA rated shows earned increased lifts in awareness.
- Unaided Brand Awareness (+3pts)
- Unaided Ad Awareness (+8pts)
- Aided Ad Awareness (+4pts)
In this TV-MA example, we see that consumers recognize and appreciate that integration is a way for advertisers to be part of the show without disrupting the viewing experience.
If Disney viewers are motivated to watch a show, they’re rarely deterred by ratings
Most notably, we found that 87% of Disney viewers agree that they’ll watch a show regardless of rating if they like it. They mentioned, “I don’t care as long as I’m entertained with what I’m watching,” and, “If I do not like or object to content, I can turn it off.”
We wanted to dive a little deeper to see if specific elements of TV-MA–such as suggestive dialogue, drugs & alcohol, crude language, frightening and intense scenes, sexual situations & nudity and violence & gore–impacted their viewing negatively. Across all advisories we found that viewers felt more indifferent than negative (i.e. not necessarily having positive or negative feelings) toward the sub-type of content.
There’s a lot of uncertainty around which shows are
rated TV-MA
We gave our Disney Dialogue respondents a little “Pop Quiz.” We showed them a list of 15 well-known TV shows that varied across networks, streaming services and genres. Then, we asked if respondents could identify which shows are considered TV-MA.
Of the fifteen shows evaluated, most Disney viewers were uncertain of the rating for each show. They guessed: 5 correctly, 3 incorrectly and shared that they were unsure about 7 of them.
The uncertainty was especially interesting given that
of Disney viewers say they notice TV Parental Guideline ratings before their content begins.
In Summary
It’s clear that bold storytelling drives brand impact for advertisers. To learn more, reach out to your Disney Advertising representative.
Source: *The Disney Dialogue panel is made up of Adults 18+. TV-MA Survey, Disney Dialogue – August 2022, Latitude, Hulu Integration Project, Fall 2023, Among TV-MA Shows: Dave The Bear and Only Murders in the Building.