Advertisers looking to achieve the optimal reach for their linear TV campaigns should put 40 to 45 networks on their buy, a new analysis by Comcast’s Effectv found.
Effectv, Comcast’s ad sales unit, looked at 165,000 campaigns and found that for every five networks added, reach increased by 6% without increasing the campaign’s budget, until the sweet spot of 40-45 was achieved.
The results were the same regardless of spending level, Effectv said.
“We have long known there is a correlation between the number of networks on which advertisers air their messages and how many households they reach,” said Travis Flood, director of customer insights at Effectv. “But expanding network counts in campaigns is more important than ever today as consumers fragment across viewing endpoints. This research demonstrates that adding more networks – even as many as 40-45 – leads to greater linear TV reach without increasing budget levels, making campaigns more efficient and more effective. Of course, even when maximizing linear TV reach with more networks, adding streaming continues to be a critical component in maximizing overall campaign reach.”
To perform its analysis, Effectv data scientists used a clustering algorithm to identify campaign behaviors.
Although streaming TV is accounting for a bigger share of TV, most campaigns are still baked on linear TV. According to EffecTV, viewers still watch traditional TV for more than 6 hours and 17 minutes a day and watch an average of 29 networks per household.
“While we know that streaming advertising is a necessary complement to linear TV, TV is still the foundation of successful multi-screen campaigns today,” said Evy Galiatsatos, senior VP, Group Partner, Integrated Investment at media agency UM. “And successful TV buying shouldn’t be left to guesswork. With these new insights, we can better understand the factors that impact reach and further determine the most effective strategies needed to deliver consistent results across screens.” ■
