
Consumers are spending more of their media time with FAST programming. They accept the reality that free TV comes with ads. When it comes to TV media buying, should your clients focus on FAST?
Possibly. But remember that consumers are open to paying for limited ad-supported TV programming. They also have opinions about TV ads. Here are the questions your clients need answers to when it comes to TV advertising.
- How Much Time Do Consumers Spend Watching TV?
- What is the Proper Ad Load in TV Programming?
- What is the Best Way to Allocate TV Media Buying Budgets?
Let's take a look at the details.
How Much Time Do Consumers Spend Watching TV?
According to eMarketer, the average U.S. adult watches nearly 3 hours a day of linear TV. And they spend 2 hours and 15 minutes a day enjoying CTV content. Advertisers realize that consumers are often doing other tasks while watching TV.
They may be texting, chatting with friends or searching online for items they want to purchase. This scenario makes it critical to reach consumers in more than one media format.
As your clients prepare their media plans for this year, let them know how TV stacks up against other formats. For example, the typical U.S. consumer engages with media for around 12 hours and 37 minutes each day. Digital media accounts for 65.9% of that time. And not surprisingly, mobile time amounts to 4 hours a day.
What is the Proper Ad Load in TV Programming?
Your clients face a steep challenge when it comes to reaching the always-plugged-in consumer. TV media buying should be part of a plan that takes several factors into account. One key factor is to avoid irritating consumers with too many messages.
A recent study indicated that consumers don’t appreciate putting up with many ads interrupting their content stream. They also don’t like to see the same ad repeated multiple times during one program.
CTV ad data
Video Elephant and Hub Entertainment Research surveyed 10,000 consumers regarding their opinions on advertising loads. Consumers expect to see ads on FAST networks. Only 22% say that there are too many ads on these networks. In general, ads amount to “8 to 10 minutes per hour” of programming on FAST networks.
On the other hand, 32% of consumers believe they see too many ads on their cable/satellite pay TV networks. They may hold this opinion because they are also paying for access to this content.
Linear ad data
Marketers should know that consumers are far more apt to see TV ads in the linear environment. In a study of Comscore data, analysts found that 90% of ad impressions on TV were seen in the linear format. That impression level is far higher than the amount of time spent with linear TV.
Help your clients consider this situation from another perspective. The CTV ad market in the U.S. likely amounted to $35.2 billion last year. That is 33% of the total TV ad market. The balance, 67% goes to linear TV.
What is the Best Way to Allocate TV Media Buying Budgets?
Your clients might be tempted to adjust their media budgets based solely on consumer time spent with a format. But that strategy won’t target consumers effectively.
Show them a better way. With AudienceSCAN data, available with an AdMall subscription, you can share valuable data. Your accounts need to know which media formats influence their target audience. Sporting event bettors (online) make up one of the top audiences swayed by linear TV ads. AudienceSCAN also reveals that 40.4% of these consumers clicked an online ad after seeing a TV ad.
For streaming or CTV ads, pizza restaurant customers are far more likely to respond than other consumers. After seeing the ad, 30% purchased the product being promoted.
Your accounts’ TV media buying budget is too valuable to waste. With a full understanding of how consumers watch TV, you can guide decision-makers to make the best investment.
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