When advertisers ran campaigns with Comcast Cable’s Effectv ad sales unit, they were able to reach households without TV through streaming, according to Effectv’s TV Viewership Report.
Effectv found that traditional TV viewing remained strong, with Comcast cable subscribers watching 6 hours and 2 minutes per day, down from 6:34 a year ago in the peak of the pandemic and 6:20 in the first half of 2019. It’s the first drop in viewing since EffecTV began collecting data.
Cable networks got 70% of that viewing, more than in previous reports. During the first of last year, cable networks accumulated 67% of viewing. Viewing is more fragmented, with the top five networks accounting for just 31% of viewing.
Live programming--as opposed to shows on the DVR or VOD--accounted for 88% of viewing in the first half of 2021, up from 86% in the first half of both 2020 and 2019. And viewers preferred to watch news and sports on traditional TV, while young adult content was more often viewed via streaming.
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Whether traditional TV or streaming, viewers were watching on TV screen. Effectv said 76% of streaming viewing occurred on a TV screen during the first half of 2021.
When it comes to ad exposures, Effectv measured both traditional TV and streaming content while analyzing more than 20,000 cross-platform campaigns and found that streaming complemented traditional TV.
In those cross-platform campaigns, 57% of the reach from streaming was incremental to traditional TV campaigns. Streaming impressions were more than three times as likely to be served in homes with little or no traditional TV.
"Our latest report continues to demonstrate the tremendous ability of linear TV to reach audiences, but it also reinforces how smart advertisers use streaming as a way to expand reach,” said John Brauer, VP, insights & analytics, Effectv. “Analysis of Effectv’s cross-platform audience solutions confirm what the industry has long suspected: streaming advertising consistently extends traditional TV campaign reach in meaningful ways.”
