When given the ability to skip ads in video-on-demand programming, about 20 percent of viewers hit the fast-forward button on their remote controls, according to the results of a laboratory study conducted by the Advanced Advertising Media Project.

AAMP, a VoD research initiative that is backed by Comcast, Discovery Communications, Intel, BlackArrow and other cable industry distributors, programmers and technology suppliers, recently conducted a lab study with about 1,000 participants. Using various ad loads in 30-minutes TV series from major networks, it studied how VoD viewers responded to ads compared to viewers that watched programs on live TV and viewers that watched programs on a DVR.

About 400 respondents in the study were given the ability to use the fast-forward function on remote controls to skip the commercials. Only about 20 percent of respondents in the study skipped the ads, BlackArrow president Nick Troiano told FierceCable. About 20 percent of participants that had the ability to skip ads with a DVR also skipped ads, he added.

The AAMP study measured how viewers responded to three different ad loads placed in 19 different primetime TV shows. It tested a "light" load that contained three minutes of ads; a moderate load contained 5.5 minutes of ads; and a heavy load contained 8 minutes of advertising.

Troiano said one of the most significant findings from the study was that that size of the ad load didn't impact viewer engagement or enjoyment of the programming. AAMP said between 31 percent and 38 percent of all participants across all ad loads rated the TV viewing experience as "excellent."

AAMP plans to kick off a study early next year that will measure how subscribers on a cable system owned by Comcast respond to VoD advertising. Troiano said other providers also may join the market test.