Entertainment giant Comcast (CMCSA) would like you to know that the most memorable ads are those released on television. How fortunate for you that one of Comcast’s biggest product lines is television. Yet despite this remarkably favorable study it commissioned and released, investors did not seem to be on board this particular bandwagon. Comcast shares dropped nearly 2% in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
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Comcast Advertising recently released a report called “TV Makes Memories,” and examined the link between brand recall, consumer behavior, and media type. It turned to 891 participants, and each was shown a 30-second ad in different contexts. The participants saw the ad on television, in social media, in streaming audio and in search engines. Meanwhile, researchers tracked several physiological response vectors, including eye tracking and heart rate.
What the researchers found was that participants were 26% more likely to look at a brand message in a TV ad than they were in a mobile ad. And they would spend 36% more time viewing that ad as well. Moreover, unaided brand recall was actually higher in most cases for television than for any other platform. It was 2.2 times higher than with social media, 2.1 times higher than audio, and a whopping 12.4 times higher than audio streaming.
Sorry, Panthers Fans
Comcast Xfinity, meanwhile, reportedly pulled a fast one on Florida Panthers fans, who were watching a game between the Panthers and the Ottawa Senators. In the first period, the game was interrupted by a static screen which declared that Xfinity was pulling Scripps (SSP) channels from its lineup. The game between the Panthers and the Senators was being carried on a Scripps channel.
Xfinity’s static screen declared: “This channel is unavailable. Our contract with Scripps, the owner of this channel, has expired. Scripps has refused our reasonable offers, and their demands would significantly increase the price you pay. Thank you for your patience as we work to keep your channels affordable.” This is said to be part of a larger trend involving regional sports networks (RSNs) losing access to television providers.
Is Comcast Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on CMCSA stock based on five Buys, 11 Holds and three Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 22.48% loss in its share price over the past year, the average CMCSA price target of $32.12 per share implies 15.16% upside potential.
