U.S. STUDY: KEY VIEWING TRENDS: TRADITIONAL TV STILL HAS THE UPPER HAND

Linear television is still one of the most powerful media. This is the conclusion of a study conducted by EMARKETER last year. Despite the increasing number of people switching to connected television (CTV) and social video, most people in the U.S. still watch linear TV. Meanwhile, linear TV viewers are also very likely to use mobile devices or laptops while watching, so ads on linear TV can inspire consumers to take immediate action.

The research, conducted by EMARKETER, involved users aged 18 and older. The media studied were defined as follows for the purposes of the study:

• Traditional TV - watching live broadcasts, DVRs and other recorded videos (such as videos downloaded from the internet but stored locally). Digital broadcasting is not included.


• Subscription OTT - all time spent watching video on subscription OTT platforms via any device.


• Social Video - all time spent on online video activities on social media platforms; use through any device is included.


• YouTube - all time spent watching YouTube videos on any device; YouTube TV is included.

Several interesting conclusions emerge from the study. First, it is clear that American adults still spend most of their time watching traditional television. However, the number of viewers is slowly declining, while other formats such as video on social media and YouTube are currently on the rise, posing a challenge for traditional television. However, linear TV currently has the upper hand, even over CTV. A very interesting finding is that people like to watch TV when shopping online. When it comes to advertising, consumers are more likely to watch ads if it saves them money. In addition, TV ads are cheaper, so it is not surprising that linear TV is second in terms of advertising investment. Let’s take a closer look at each of the study’s findings.

U.S. adults spend the most time watching traditional TV

US adult viewers spend an average of 2 hours and 55 minutes watching traditional television. This puts linear TV well ahead of subscription OTT (1 hour 49 minutes), social video (52 minutes), and YouTube (36 minutes), the study says.

When it comes to viewership, the ratio is slowly reversing. OTT subscriptions are projected to surpass traditional TV in viewership by 2025, reaching 230.5 million viewers compared to traditional TV’s 228.6 million viewers.

Average time U.S. adults spend on TV and video per day, by format, 2024 (hr:min)

YouTube and social media time is approaching TV time

Television still wins over YouTube and social videos among American adults, according to a June 2024 forecast. But time spent watching TV is declining while other formats are growing. Also, the number of people watching TV is declining while the number of social network users in the U.S. is growing. In 2025, the number of TV viewers is expected to increase slightly (by 1.8%), and the same is true for the number of US viewers watching YouTube (by 2.0%). This poses a challenge for advertising on linear TV as video advertisers try to reach the massive social media audience.

Average time U.S. adults spend daily watching TV, social videos and YouTube, 2017-2024 (h:min)

People watch TV when shopping online

According to a report by Walmart and Morning Consult, watching TV is the most popular online shopping activity. In addition, 77.2% of people in the U.S. use secondary screens, with 37.6% of people watching related content on their mobile devices, tablets and laptops, according to EMARKETER’s February 2024 forecast. TV ads can drive these users to make purchasing decisions.

Activities carried out by U.S. adults when shopping online in the past 6 months, May 2024

% of respondents

Consumers are more receptive to advertising if it saves them money

According to June 2024 data from Hub Research Entertainment, two-thirds of U.S. TV viewers prefer to watch ads in order to save a few dollars a month on subscriptions. This represents a significant increase from June 2021, when only 58% of viewers fell into that category. This is obviously good news for linear broadcasting as an ad-supported medium. In the chart below, viewers who prefer to tolerate ads in exchange for financial savings are highlighted in red. The chart covers the period from June 2021 to June 2024.



However, consumers may still be put off by the number of ads on linear TV. Linear TV offers about 15 minutes of ads per hour, while CTV offers about 10 minutes of ads per hour.

Linear TV ranks second in total ad spend

According to data from Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), linear TV accounted for a total of 14.4% of total U.S. media ad spending in August 2024, the second-largest share, just behind CTV/OTT. However, the share of ad spending for CTV/OTT increased by 2 percentage points, while the share of ad spending for linear decreased by 1 percentage point. The percentage distribution of advertising investment in different media can be seen in the table below, which covers the years 2023 and 2024:

Linear TV has higher attention spans than CTV

American viewers are in the room and paying attention when an ad is playing on linear TV rather than when it is a CTV ad (but that doesn’t apply to premium CTV). This may simply be because linear TV has a higher advertising load, which means longer commercial breaks.

Either way, the fact that there are no shopping buttons within linear ads does not mean that consumers will not act. Therefore, we need to encourage viewers to engage with ads on mobile devices, tablets and laptops through clear calls to action in ads.

Audience presence and attention to advertising, CTV versus linear TV, US, Q1 2024

% of ad impressions



It is clear from the data above that the naysayers claiming that linear TV is dead are completely wrong with their reasoning. Linear TV is still a powerful medium that has the trust of viewers and advertisers. Thanks to modern technology, it now offers targeting and measurement capabilities comparable to social platforms, but unlike them, it offers greater efficiency, unrivalled viewer attention and a reputation as a quality, proven medium. It will continue to play an indispensable role in advertising in the future.

 

Source: insiderintelligence.com