Why This MattersAdvertisers are seeking evidence that their spots work, and research shows viewers respond to ads in lifestyle programming.
At a time when many networks are looking to cut back on commercials, Scripps Networks Interactive says its viewers like and respond to the advertising it shows.
Scripps Networks has long claimed that its brand of lifestyle programming - focusing on areas including home, food and travel - is more advertiser-friendly than other types of programming and will be pointing to new research to back up its claims.
It will be doing so, however, in the midst of corporate changes. Now that it has been acquired by Discovery Communications, the two companies are scrambling to incorporate each other's networks into their upfront presentations. Discovery was taking an agency-by-agency approach, while Scripps is starting a six-city road show of upfront events beginning March 20 in Detroit.
The two companies haven't been able to communicate since the acquisition was announced. With the deal closing last week, just as presentations are starting, we'll try to make it as balanced as possible, said Jon Steinlauf, the Scripps veteran who was named chief advertising sales officer for the combined company.
Numbers compiled by Simmons Research on engagement show why advertising works on Scripps, Steinlauf said.
In the study, about 15,000 people were asked about the advertising they saw on cable channels. One question asked how well the ads fit with the content on the channel. Responses were grouped by parent company and Scripps Networks came out on top among 10 programmers with a 136 index - 36% above average.
Conveniently, Discovery came in second, followed by Viacom, NBCUniversal, Turner, Fox, A+E, Disney, AMC Networks and Crown Media.
Another question asked consumers to rank the networks on whether the ads were about things they cared about.
Scripps was first again with a 138 index, Steinlauf said.
The last category asked if the products and services advertised were of high quality, he said. Scripps was again first amongst the 10 with a 133 index.
The research backs up the theme of the Scripps presentation, which is, Advertising Works Here.
You Can't Beat Live
One reason why advertising works on Scripps is because a lot of it is watched live, like sports or news programming.
There's a unique distinction about Scripps, which is even though the shows aren't live, the audience uses the content in a very similar manner that they use sports, news and event programming, Steinlauf said. They prefer overwhelmingly to watch these channels live, so we don't want to be thrown into a bucket with all of these scripted shows that are recorded or not even embedded with advertising.
A lot of ads are being wiped out as viewers fast-forward through commercials in shows watched on DVRs or on-demand, or binge on network shows on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon.
I think it's a lot easier to get somebody to see an ad live than it is to try to get them to see it once it falls into any form of time-shifting or streaming, he said.
One reason why Scripps' live numbers are high is because its brands are distinctive and it is able to produce 4,000 episodes a year of original programming.
Brands have never ever mattered the way they do now, said Kathleen Finch, who had been in charge of programming at Scripps Networks but after the Discovery deal will head a portfolio of networks including HGTV, Food Network, TLC, ID, Travel Channel, DIY Network, Cooking Channel, Discovery Life, American Heroes Channel, Destination America and GAC as chief lifestyle brands officer.
There are all these different options where you can go for drama and entertainment and comedy. All of our viewers know that if you want lifestyle you come to our brands. And that's a promise that we can fulfill seven nights a week, Finch said.
The Scripps networks have been ratcheting up the number of original shows on HGTV. According to Finch, HGTV will have a premiere episode of one of its series every night, 365 nights a year. I don't think any other network can say that, she said.
And it might not matter which show is new that night. It never bothers us when we go out to focus groups and viewers don't exactly know the names of the shows they're always watching, Finch said. That's OK. What they say is, I turn on HGTV.' I turn on Food Network.' I turn on Travel Channel, because I'm in the mood for it and I know I will be satisfied,' she said. And that's a much better business proposition than having a hit on Tuesday and then nothing else the rest of the week. [Our advertisers know they're] getting the same upscale, quality, endemic engaged audience every night of the week.
Stunt Programming Is a Piece of Cake
That doesn't mean Scripps Networks don't do programming stunts and specials. On Food Network, for examples, Mondays have turned into baking night, with series including Vegas Cakes, Dallas Cakes and Ridiculous Cakes.
And on Travel Channel, Expedition Unknown host Josh Gates will be doing a special, Expedition Unknown: Hunt for the Afterlife.
Scripps may have found a formula for Travel. Our sweet spot is finding adventurous things, Finch said, pointing to shows such as Hunting Evidence, Finding Beasts and Lost Gold. These amazing exploration-mystery shows are really resonating with Travel viewers and we've got a bunch more that we'll be premiering in 2018.
Those shows should resonate with advertisers as well.
Another piece of research for Scripps used neuroscience to measure the impact of advertising and media. In the study, viewers were shown the same spots from all of the major ad categories in different genres of programming. The result: When ads were shown in lifestyle programming, enga
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
06/07/2026
Long-developed relationships and informal access, three production models, and c...
06/07/2026
The deal follows Lumine's recent acquisition of Synamedia's video-networ...
06/07/2026
This former SportsCenter producer is shaping local-team studio coverage to surro...
06/07/2026
IMS Productions and FOX Sports deployed more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds,...
06/07/2026
Lumine Group Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Video Network Business from Synamedia. The business will operate as a standalone compan...
06/07/2026
NASCAR has announced a content and commercial partnership with Motorsport Network, a motorsports and automotive media platform, to distribute NASCAR original co...
06/07/2026
Versant Media Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Full Swing, a sports technology company, from Bruin Capital and a group of minority investor...
06/07/2026
DAZN has announced global broadcast rights to 3ICE, a professional hockey format featuring three skaters and a goalkeeper per side, with no power plays or offsi...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
06/07/2026
Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...
06/07/2026
Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development
Brie Clayton July 6, 2026
0 Comments
The strategic new appointment supports...
06/07/2026
Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve
Michael Cioni July 6, 2026
0 Comments
This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...
06/07/2026
Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro
Colin Smith July 6, 2026
0 Comments
Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...
06/07/2026
Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...
06/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...
06/07/2026
Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...
06/07/2026
Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy
intellisphereinsyght2026
6 July Written By Suzanne Costello
Sydney, Australia - 06 July 2026 T...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...
06/07/2026
Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work.
This year's ...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture' - Zac Fields, SVP, Graphic Technology and Integration, FOX Sports...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
Why This MattersAdvertisers are seeking evidence that their spots work, and research shows viewers respond to ads in lifestyle programming.
