By Rob Dumke
A new television viewership report from the spot cable arm of the company that owns Peacock, NBCUniversal and Universal Studios, as well as Comcast, finds that streaming “consistently” serves as a strong complement to traditional TV ad campaigns.
This was based on research conducted during the first half of 2021 from Effectv, the ad sales division of Comcast Cable.
The report explores viewership trends for the first half of 2021 based on Comcast aggregate household viewership data, as well as insights based on Effectv’s campaign ad exposure data for both traditional TV and streaming content.
Streaming consistently served as a strong complement to traditional TV campaigns in the first half of 2021. 57% of reach from streaming in those campaigns was incremental to linear TV campaigns. Streaming impressions were +209% more likely to be served within households that viewed 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 of Insights & Analytics at Effectv.
Among the other findings:
-Live TV viewership grew in the first half of 2021, reaching 88% of all TV viewing.
-Comcast households spent just over 6 hours and 2 minutes with TV daily.
-Of the time spent with TV, 70% was spent with cable TV, higher than previous recorded years.
-Viewers spread their consumption of premium video content across multiple networks and devices.
-The top five networks only accounted for only 31% of all viewing in 1H2021.
-Nearly 70% of live viewing occurred outside of primetime hours.
-Comcast households watched an average of 30 different networks during this period.
“The past year has caused a major upheaval of our lives, and that includes in the way we consume media,” Brauer said. “Viewership will no doubt continue to evolve, and advertisers can no longer rely on TV or streaming alone to reach their audience – they need both.”
