MUMBAI: The International Television Research Group (inTV) and GlobalWebIndex compared internet users aged 16-64 who watch any of the international TV channels such as BBC News, Bloomberg Television, CNBC, CNN, Euronews, Eurosport, France 24, National Geographic Channel, Sky News and TV5Monde channels at least twice a week and made a startling discovery.

According to the study these international channels which are broadcast beyond national borders, have been long recognised by high-end brands as a powerful way to reach affluent shoppers and business leaders. Yet opposite to received wisdom, the study found that the characteristics and attitudes of frequent viewers of international TV are not dependent on income, according to Rapid TV News.

In what could be vastly lucrative for the industry, research has identified an untapped, frequent TV audience of 112.5 million consumers viewing international TV channels who fall outside of the top income segment that advertisers usually target through ad campaigns.

inTV Group chairperson and Euronews head of research Sonia Marguin said, “This research has been eye-opening. While international TV channels will always remain a valuable source of affluent consumers for upscale brands, we can now see that there is also huge potential for other premium brands who are looking for highly active consumers, but who had seen international TV channels as the bastion for top-end luxury brands before.”

The advertising receptiveness was associated with viewing frequency, rather than consumer affluence was one of the key standouts. Frequent viewers were twice as likely as non-viewers to buy the products they see advertised, irrespective of income.

All frequent viewers were found to be considerably more likely to value premium brands than non-viewers, with 60 per cent of affluent frequent viewers and 45 per cent of those outside the top income segment tending to buy the premium version of a product, compared with 40 per cent for the wealthiest non-viewers.

Both the top 10 per cent income group for frequent viewers and those outside the most affluent group are significantly more likely to be brand conscious and are also much more likely to own the latest technology, such as smart TVs and smartwatches.