NEW YORK — Walt Disney Co. is trying to get inside the minds of television viewers. The Burbank-based entertainment company, with its profitable ESPN and ABC entertainment networks, said Tuesday that it was developing an “emerging media and advertising research lab” to try to figure out why people watch the shows they do. ABC made the announcement as part of its “upfront” presentation to advertisers in New York to kick off the industry’s springtime television sales season. ESPN entertained advertisers Tuesday morning, and ABC unveiled its fall schedule in the afternoon. The new research center will be based in Austin, Texas, and will test a variety of advertising practices to discern how receptive consumers are to products that are integrated into shows, whether people pay attention to split screens and how they watch programs on mobile devices. Disney hopes to have the center running by November. For the full story visit http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-abc14-2008may14,0,3472001.story
