by Kristine Hamlett
Source: cmo.com, May 2019
There’s nothing quite like the power of sight, sound, and motion in building an emotional connection with audiences. So it’s little wonder why television remains at the forefront of traditional advertising.
However, it’s also evolving. With advancements in the automation of linear TV, the growth of connected TV (CTV), and new over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms, advertisers can now create personalized content, use audience-centric targeting, and show ads that are relevant and timely for the exact audiences they want to reach.
Amid all of these exciting opportunities, let’s hit the pause button just for a moment and examine this ever-changing landscape. As the following stats show, TV continues to be a big hit among audiences and advertisers alike.
1. Americans watch a lot of television. In fact, adults in the U.S. are watching nearly five hours of live and time-shifted television per day on average, which is equal to more than 77 days per year. (Source: Nielsen)
2. How audiences watch television is changing, too. For example, 195 million U.S. viewers are predicted to watch CTV in 2019, growing to 204.1 million, or 60.1% of the population, by 2022. (Source: eMarketer)
3. As of November 2018, Americans are streaming close to 8 billion hours per month on CTV devices like Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV. (Source: Nielsen)
4. 55% of U.S. households are now subscribing to at least one video-streaming service, up from 10% in 2009. (Source: Deloitte)
5. However, Internet users worldwide are still spending more time with linear TV than OTT platforms. (Source: GlobalWebindex)
6. When audiences watch TV, they’re engaged. According to an eye-tracking survey, TV commanded twice the active viewing of YouTube and 15 times the active viewing of Facebook. (Source: CMO.com)
7. Connected TV ads show consistently higher completion rates (95%) than desktop (75%) and mobile (72%), a phenomenon attributable to the non-skippable nature of most connected TV ads. (Source: Extreme Reach)
8. In 2019, over 22 million viewers will watch live TV through a streaming service, such as Sling TV or Hulu. That number is expected to grow to over 35 million by 2022. (Source: eMarketer)
9. Brands are betting big on the future. Less than a third (28%) of brands have integrated digital audience data into their TV ad buys, but 68% plan to do so by September 2019. (Source: CMO.com)
10. 59% of U.S. marketers are expecting to increase their investments in advanced TV, including data-driven linear TV and addressable TV. (Source: eMarketer)
11. Programmatic TV ad spend is estimated to reach $4.73 billion by 2020, nearly tripling from 2018’s $1.75 billion. (Source: eMarketer)
12. TV spending by direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands has almost doubled since 2016, totaling $2 billion in spend in 2018. (Source: eMarketer)
13. U.S. TV ad spending was up by 3.1% in 2018, finishing the year at $72.4 billion. (Source: eMarketer)
14. Addressable TV ad spending in the U.S. is expected to grow from $2.06 billion in 2018 to $3.37 billion in 2020. (Source: eMarketer).
15. Roku’s ad revenue is expected to nearly triple between 2018 and 2021. (Source: eMarketer)
