Replay ads on TV: Three new forms of advertising go live

The TV broadcasters, distributors and marketers have jointly developed the new forms of advertising and they are now being implemented on the first TV stations. The introduction of replay ads is intended to simultaneously improve the viewer experience, make it possible for TV stations to finance time-shifted use in the long term, and thus maintain the diversity of Swiss TV programming.

Time-shifted TV use, so-called replay TV, enjoys great popularity throughout Switzerland thanks to the constant availability of over 50,000 hours of programming and has been growing steadily since its introduction ten years ago. Since commercial breaks are largely fast-forwarded in replay sessions, time-shifted TV use presents TV broadcasters with substantial challenges, even though TV consumption has been very stable overall for years. With the ever-popular rewind function in replay TV, the TV stations' main source of income, the sale of TV commercials, is directly compromised.

In order to sustainably secure the financing of the diverse TV offering and, in particular, the globally unique Replay offering in Switzerland, the TV broadcasters created the new Replay Ads together with the distributors and marketers. Replay Ads are three forms of advertising in time-shifted TV use that will be introduced in Switzerland on October 4, 2022.

Freemium models like YouTube: Replay Ads or, for an additional charge, completely ad-free Replay TV.

Comparable to familiar "freemium" models such as Spotify or YouTube, consumers can choose between a wide range of offers, which are designed differently depending on the provider: Replay TV with classic advertising, Replay TV with replay ads, and now even Replay TV with the option of skipping commercial breaks without any advertising.

For the latter two, there is no longer any need to rewind or fast-forward when re-entering the program. At the push of a button, a very user-friendly, precise re-entry into the program is possible. The TV stations make this possible by placing markers in the program before and after each commercial break, which the distributors can read.

Consumers who have chosen a Replay TV subscription that includes Replay Ads will see these three short forms of advertising:

• Start ad: Very short commercial (five to seven seconds) at the beginning of the replay program, as already known from video platforms.
• Pause Ad: Static display ad after and during pressing the pause button in live or replay mode.
• Fast Forward Ad: A mini commercial break of two to three spots (maximum 130 seconds) that is played when viewers want to skip the much longer commercial break during their replay use.

The pricing and communication of the new subscription offers are the responsibility of the distributors.

Implementation on other TV stations
Replay ads are displayed on all stations that have signed a corresponding industry agreement. With a few exceptions, this currently includes almost all German-language TV stations that offer advertising in Switzerland.

As of October 4, almost all channels from RTL Deutschland (RTL, VOX, NITRO, RTLZWEI), Seven.One Entertainment Group (ProSieben, SAT.1, Kabel Eins, ProSieben MAXX, SAT.1 Gold, sixx, Puls 8) and CH Media (TV24, TV25, S1, 3+, 4+, 5+, 6+, 7+/Nick Schweiz) will launch.

Other TV stations such as TeleZüri, TeleBärn, Tele1, Tele M1, TVO and SWISS1, SUPER RTL and ntv are expected to launch replay ads in the first half of 2023. Other broadcasters will follow. Replay Ads are offered on almost all Swiss distributors, including Swisscom, Sunrise, Quickline and Salt.