TELEVISION KNOWS HOW TO CAPTURE ATTENTION: THROUGH THE BIG SCREEN, EMOTION AND SHARED EXPERIENCES

Showing an advertisement today is no problem. Getting people to actually pay attention to it is the real challenge. The number of impressions or the reach of a campaign alone does not tell us whether someone genuinely watched the advertising message, engaged with it or remembered it. And according to the TV is engaging project, this is precisely one of television’s key advantages. Its strength lies not only in how many people it can reach, but also in the quality of that contact.

A large screen, sound switched on, longer viewing time, professionally produced content, shared viewing with other people and, above all, the relatively calm setting in which people watch television all create an environment where advertising has a greater chance of genuinely capturing attention. This advantage is also confirmed by a range of studies referenced by the TV is engaging project. An overview of these studies can be found at the end of the article.

Real Contact Instead of a Fleeting Click

One of the problems with traditional advertising evaluation is that the cost per thousand impressions does not necessarily say anything about their actual value. We may know how many times an advertisement was displayed. What we do not know is whether the consumer watched it for two seconds, ten seconds or did not notice it at all. That is why, when evaluating advertising, it is important to look not only at the number of contacts but also at their quality – in other words, whether the message genuinely captures attention and leaves a trace in memory.

An advertisement on social media can disappear from the screen with a single swipe. A television screen, by contrast, creates a much more focused viewing situation. And this ability is reflected in tangible results. When television is watched together, ad recall increases by 23% and ad likeability rises by as much as 75%. Another interesting finding is that, in terms of attention, skippable ads played before online video achieve only 60% of the level enjoyed by television advertising. And video advertising shown between posts on social media? That reaches just 17%. There is another factor too: while attention paid to some forms of digital advertising is declining, the average level of attention paid to television commercials has increased by 14%.

The cost perspective is also interesting. Television advertising may appear more expensive in a standard comparison of cost per thousand impressions. However, when cost is assessed according to the price of each second that is actually watched attentively, television comes out significantly more favourably.

Television’s advantage is also confirmed by advertising recall. Linear television and BVOD significantly outperform social platforms such as Instagram and TikTok in terms of spontaneous recall of advertising messages. The difference is even more pronounced when it comes to remembering specific details. In the Into the Wild study, recall of specific details from television advertising reached 84%, compared with 58% for YouTube and 0% for the social platforms measured.

Contact with television viewers is therefore not simply another impression in a campaign performance report. Advertisers are not buying reach alone, but also the real time and attention of their audience.

The Big-Screen Effect: Size Matters

A brand needs space in which it can stand out. And screen size is one of television’s major strengths. According to the Big Screen Data report produced by Mediapulse, there are approximately five million television screens in Switzerland. A television set is present in 90% of Swiss households, with an average of 1.4 television screens per TV-equipped household.

The large television screen also remains primarily a space for television content, which accounts for around 70% of its usage. Even in the age of online video services and other viewing options, the television therefore retains its position as the main household screen for moving images.

But it is not only about the number or size of television sets. The way television is watched also matters. Television advertising uses the full screen, sound and a viewing situation in which the audience can sit back comfortably and focus on the content. The combination of a large image, sound switched on and relaxed viewing allows for deeper processing of an advertising message than on smaller screens where content changes rapidly.

A large screen therefore gives a brand more than simply additional space. It helps make the brand more visible, more distinctive and easier to remember.

Trust and a Safe Environment for Brands

Even the most compelling advertisement does not exist in a vacuum. Brand perception is also influenced by the environment in which the message appears. And this is another area where television offers a significant advantage. Advertising appears alongside professionally produced and editorially controlled content, providing brands with a safer and more trusted environment.

Among the Swiss population, television advertising has the highest perceived quality and the highest level of trust of all moving-image media. Simply appearing on television also influences how people perceive a brand. Brands that advertise on television are perceived as more familiar, more likeable and financially stronger. Television advertising therefore strengthens not only the specific message, but also the overall image of the brand.
Safety is another important factor. Television advertising appears in professionally produced editorial environments, reducing the risk of an advertisement appearing alongside problematic user-generated content of the kind found on online platforms. It therefore offers brands a more controlled content environment.

Trust does not necessarily begin only when viewers start paying attention to the advertising message itself. Some of that credibility can already be transferred to the brand by the environment in which it appears.

The Power of Shared Viewing

Television has another distinctive characteristic that personal screens can offer only to a limited extent: we often do not watch it alone. Families, couples or friends gather around one screen to watch a film, series, sports event or entertainment programme together. This social dimension also has a significant impact on advertising effectiveness. When television is watched together, ad recall is 23% higher. Brand messages therefore remain in viewers’ memories significantly more effectively. The shared experience also influences perceptions of the brand itself. Trust in the brand increases by 15%. An even greater difference can be seen in people’s relationship with the advertisements themselves. Their likeability during shared viewing increases by as much as 75%.



Television therefore does not work only with the individual viewer. It can also benefit from the social situation in which content is watched. If people experience something together, the advertising and the brand associated with it can benefit from that shared experience as well.

Building Brands Through Emotion

Television advertising does not work through information alone. Its strength also lies in emotion. The combination of image, sound and storytelling makes it possible to create a message that the viewer not only understands, but genuinely experiences. And this emotional response can play an important role in building a relationship with the brand.

No other form of advertising generates such strong emotions among the Swiss population as television advertising. A positive emotional response is also associated with a greater willingness to buy.

Television also has an advantage in the viewing situation itself. While advertising on YouTube may be perceived as an interruption and a source of tension, television advertising is received in a more relaxed and natural way as part of the programme being watched.

The time of day also plays an important role. The period between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. appears to be the most suitable time for emotionally driven advertising stories. It is particularly in the evening that emotion-based narratives are most likely to resonate with viewers, especially when they make use of storytelling, humour and a strong audio component.

Television therefore combines attention with emotion. And it is precisely this emotional experience that can help a brand become embedded in memory much more deeply than a brief exposure to an advertising message.

Attention Drives Profit

Attention is not an end in itself for advertisers. Its real value becomes apparent only when it translates into business results. The longer a person actively watches an advertisement, the greater its impact on sales. And television delivers the most consistent results in this respect.

Its strength, however, is not limited to immediate impact. According to the Profit Ability 2 study, television also delivers the highest long-term return on advertising investment and helps establish brands in people’s minds over time. Short online videos, by contrast, often generate only a short-term impulse.

The value of television advertising therefore cannot be judged solely by the viewer’s immediate reaction. Its value also lies in long-term brand building and in effects that continue even after the campaign itself has ended.

A Space Where a Brand Can Become an Experience

Television’s strength does not lie in a single characteristic, but in the way several advantages come together. It offers a large screen and sound. It can capture more focused attention. It appears in a professional and trusted environment. People often watch it together. It can tell stories and evoke emotions. And the attention it generates can also translate into business results.

In an environment where much of digital advertising competes for just a few moments between countless other posts and stimuli, television offers something different: time, space and conditions in which a brand has the opportunity to be genuinely seen, remembered and responded to. That is why it remains a medium capable of bringing people together, evoking emotion and giving brands a safe, large-format space. A place where advertising does not have to be merely a message, but can become an experience.

What Does This Mean for Advertisers?

Television’s strength does not depend on a single characteristic. It results from the combination of many factors: the high probability that someone will genuinely notice the advertisement, the large screen, sound switched on, longer exposure, comfortable viewing, professionally produced surrounding content, a trusted environment, the ability to evoke emotion and the opportunity to watch content together with other people.

None of these characteristics is exclusive to television in itself. Online video can be displayed full-screen. YouTube can be watched on a television set. Social media can deliver exceptionally powerful advertising and enable highly precise targeting of specific groups of people. The crucial difference arises when these individual qualities come together.



In an ideal scenario, a television advertising contact does not simply mean a data point indicating that an advertisement was technically displayed somewhere. It can mean a 30-second story shown on the largest screen in the household, with sound on, in the middle of professionally produced programming, in front of someone who is not simultaneously jumping between dozens of other messages and who may even be watching together with a partner, family or friends.

And that is why, when planning advertising, it may be more useful not to ask how many advertising contacts I can buy for my money, but rather how much genuine human attention I can buy – and what that attention will subsequently do for my brand and its business results? In this kind of comparison, television continues to hold a very strong position even in today’s fragmented media landscape.

About the Project

TV is engaging is a project by Goldbach focused on attention to television advertising and the factors that influence its effectiveness. It brings together findings from several studies examining attention, advertising recall, screen size, the credibility of the media environment, shared television viewing, emotions and advertising business outcomes. The project draws on the following studies:

• Screenforce: Track the Success
• Screenforce: Attention Works
• Screenforce: Into the Wild
• Screenforce: Aufmerksamkeit als zentraler Faktor für die Werbewirkung
• Mediapulse: TV Big Screen Data
• Thinkbox: Why the biggest moments still happen on TV
• Screenforce: Schweiz 2024 – Die Welt der Screens
• Screenforce: Follow the Feelings
• Ebiquity: Maximising Profit Through Attention
• Thinkbox (2024): Profit Ability 2: The new business Case for advertising
• Screenforce: Erfolgssignale

The individual studies differ in methodology, markets covered and period of implementation; as part of its TV is Engaging project, Goldbach brings their findings together to provide a broader perspective on television advertising’s ability to capture attention, build brands and contribute to business results.

Source: tv-is.ch