NEW YORK: TV sitcoms, especially high-rated primetime shows, provide better return on investment (ROI) for advertisers than other TV genres, according to a new study.

Based on analysis of how TV ads for six CPG brands performed across multiple channels – excluding news, sports or children's programmes – CBS Corp. concluded that sitcoms outperform variety, general drama or series in terms of ROI.

That is according to the CBS Campaign Performance Audit (CPA), which examined how the five CPA components create an effective TV advertising campaign.

David Poltrack, Chief Research Officer at CBS Corp., told Adweek that these five elements involve testing your message, maximising your weekly reach, getting the most out of "recency" (timing close to purchase), precisely targeting potential customers, and considering context, such as the surrounding programming.

"Context does have an impact – 8 or 10 percent for some of these CPG brands. That translates to a lot of money, and it does make a difference," Poltrack said.

However, while CBS found context to be of value, its study – conducted with Nielsen Catalina – considered context to be less effective than other CPA components for driving sales.

CBS said the most important component for a TV campaign is to have effective creative, followed by high reach, precise targeting, "recency" and then context.

"The research shows that if you have an effective advertising campaign, your No. 1 priority should be to reach as many people with that campaign as possible," said Poltrack.

"When you take money out of television and move it into digital, and you cut your prime time down to marginal levels, you’re going to be at a net loss, because you're wasting effective advertising by not exposing it to as many people as possible."

Data sourced from Adweek; additional content by Warc staff