Consumers love watching TV – linear and streaming. That’s the news from Samba TV which monitors viewing activity across three million opted-​in smart TV users. The Stream 2025 report from Tubi confirms that over half of consumers, 57%,“streaming TV…for 1–3 hours in one sitting.” Given that behavior, how much should your accounts allocate to streaming TV ads?

How Consumers Watch TV

In H2 2024, consumers increased both linear and OTT viewing when compared to the same period a year earlier, reports Samba TV. The firm’s analysts indicate that TV watching is subject to some seasonality with peaks typically occurring in the second half of the calendar year. And GWI analysts say that consumers allocate their daily TV time as follows:

With streaming TV viewing now catching up to linear, your accounts must decide where to spend their ad dollars. TV advertising can be an effective way to reach consumers. For maximum effectiveness, marketers must consider the factors that impact what consumers watch.

• Streaming: 1 hour and 22 minutes

• Linear: 1 hour and 47 minutes

Content

Consumers have their pick of tentpole and bingeworthy content on TV. For example, as a finite event, the Olympics draw consumers, especially for the live action. Similar to podcasting entertainment, the TV genres that consumers enjoy binging on include docuseries (48%) and crime (44%).

As consumers flock to their favorite content, researchers have noted that 64% of the top 50 streaming shows are dramas.

Marketers in several key verticals were eager to connect with consumers in H2 2024. They chose the following verticals to deliver maximum ad impressions. The details by vertical break out as follows:

• Entertainment 17%
• Pharma and medical 10%
• Health and beauty 9%
• Food and beverage 9%

Cost

With $129 a month being paid out for streaming and pay TV subscriptions, consumers are sensitive to price increases for their favorite form of entertainment. They will cancel their subscriptions if they feel the value isn’t there.

For example, 67% of Gen Zers cancel their subscriptions when they are done streaming a specific show they enjoy. They may be taking this action because the service doesn’t deliver any other must-​see programming. Analysts have measured a 6% cancellation rate for SVOD paid programming.

Keep in mind that streamers use around 7 services. 2.6 of these services are free and represent opportunity for advertisers. The rest require a monthly fee and may not include advertising options.

While consumers are still signing up for SVOD subscriptions, they are watching their budgets. At least 56% of new subscribers opt for an ad-​supported plan and expect to see streaming TV ads.

The number of ads running per hour is another metric to understand. On the typical streaming platform, around 9 minutes of time goes to ads.  For linear TV, however, the ad load amounts to between 15 and 17 minutes per hour.

TV Ad Spending and Reach

Advertising on linear TV amounts to 67.5% of TV ad spending. Only 32.5% of spending is allocated to streaming TV ads or around $33.35 billion.

Because spending levels don’t correlate with the time spent on each TV medium, marketers should study the numbers and the viewing habits of who they are trying to reach.

Over 90% of ads on linear TV programming reach “only 51% of households.”  Specifically, linear TV viewers are exposed to 149 ads a day. Samba TV reports that households with less than $40,000 in annual income see around 82 TV ads a day. But households with income exceeding $200,000 a year only see 70 TV ads a day.

Marketer investment in TV ads is reaching lower-​income consumers effectively. But your accounts could be overpaying to connect with these shoppers. Their investment could be better spent on SVOD content favored by upper-​income consumers.

Samba TV analysts encourage marketers to spread their ad dollars across linear and SVOD content for the most effective reach.

Advertising Attitudes

At least 63% of consumers will accept advertising on their streaming platforms, especially if they aren’t paying a fee. As AudienceSCAN data shows, ads influence consumer actions. Up to 59% of affluent consumers have done an online search after seeing an ad about a product. When the ad is matched to a consumer’s interests, 59% of streaming viewers will “consider taking action” Tubi reports.

Note that 49% of Gen Zers say their “streaming experience” is disrupted when they see ads that don’t match their interests. Another annoyance is repetitive ads. Whether it’s streaming or linear programming, consumers don’t appreciate them.

Are streaming or linear TV ads more effective? That depends on the audience your accounts are trying to reach. Use the AudienceSCAN data, available with a subscription to AdMall, to learn the kind of TV viewing and content the target audience enjoys. And then put together a winning proposal.

Image on Pexels from Cottonbro Studio.