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 ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
Why This MattersAdvertisers are seeking evidence that their spots work, and research shows viewers respond to ads in lifestyle programming.
