Audience Insights: Don’t Fold Up the TV Tray Just Yet!

While ever evolving and expanding, TV advertising for local businesses remains effective in reaching target audiences.

Like so many stalwarts now in the advanced stages of the 25-54 audience demographic, I grew up with television.  The TV set was as close to being part of the family as any inanimate object could be.  Any time could be TV time – but nothing quite compared to mealtime, when we’d bust out the trusty TV trays and feast on the conveniently compartmentalized TV dinners that ZZ Top would tell us “really can’t be beat.” 

Obviously, things have changed just a bit since those quaint and questionably nutritious days of yesteryear.  Television has, in a sense, come full circle – from grainy black-and-white footage of Ralph Kramden screaming at his “Honeymooners” pal Norton to flashy, full-color online articles telling us that actor Edward Norton believes “TV is dead.”⁽¹⁾

But, as we acknowledge and embrace the change that shapes the continued evolution of our product portfolio, we here at the Audience Insights desk are not at all ready to fold up our TV trays.  To the contrary, we’ve scanned the stats and navigated the news to come up with three key insights pointing to traditional television’s continued importance for local marketers and advertisers:

1. Improved TV measurement coming to a market near you! 

As we covered in our “Ask the Experts” webinar back in February, Nielsen measurement of local TV viewing has been challenged in recent years – particularly in larger markets where Nielsen has to this point relied exclusively on its own recruited panels to estimate audience levels.  Beginning in January 2025, though, Nielsen will significantly expand its use of acquired set-top box data (also known as return-path data, or RPD) as a supplement to the existing panel information.  For markets where these changes are being implemented, the enhanced methodology is expected drive a significant decrease in the number of quarter-hours for which the current methodology reports zero viewers within critical demographic segments.  The reduction of zeros should drive more stability over time, which in turn provides better insights and reliability when it comes to planning local TV ad campaigns.⁽²⁾ 

2. Traditional TV “scores” big in share of advertising!

Nielsen’s monthly The Gauge™ report has become a go-to for marketers looking for a snapshot of Streaming’s increasing importance in the overall video landscape.  One common critique of The Gauge™, however, is that the report’s singular focus on time-spent viewing fails to factor in the potential for exposure to advertising.  Enter The Score, a newly launched collaboration between Comscore and media prognosticator Evan Shapiro designed to show “what share of the viewing has (wait for it) ad inventory.”  The inaugural release covers numbers from the second quarter of 2024, which show that the traditional TV combo of Cable and Broadcast deliver more than 85% of available ad time, compared to just under 15% for Streaming.⁽³⁾

3. TV’s reach is foundational for multiscreen ad campaigns!

The innovative insights team at Effectv has released updated analysis breaking down the reach contributions for the different components of multiscreen campaigns.  Once again, traditional TV tops the charts.  Effectv’s study of more than 35,000 campaigns finds that “73% of audience reach is unique to traditional TV.”  With TV as the advertising anchor, supplementing with Streaming maximizes a campaign’s overall potential, since Streaming homes exposed to multiscreen messaging are nearly five times more likely to watch little or no traditional TV. ⁽⁴⁾

Yes, times have changed and media will continue to evolve in new and exciting ways, but the numbers tell us that millions upon millions of us are still fascinatingly transfixed by TV in much the same way singer/songwriter Jackson Browne described two score and one year ago: “There we are, the dutiful, eating from TV trays, tuned into Happy Days.”

When you’re ready for the “happy days” of planning your next multiscreen marketing campaign, Cox Media is here to help.  The TV dinners may be optional, but the TV is a must!

Questions about TV advertising for local businesses?  Use the form on this page to connect with a Marketing Expert or contact your local Cox Media team today!

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Sources:

1. Finance.Yahoo.com. “Edward Norton explains why he thinks traditional TV is dead” (Nov. 13, 2023).
2. NextTV.com. “Nielsen Set To Add Big Data to Local Ratings in All Markets Starting in January” (Aug. 15, 2024).
3. Eshap.substack.com. “Know the Score: A New Way to Look at Measurement” (Sept. 23, 2024).
4. Effectv.com. “Multiscreen TV Advertising Report 1H 2024” (Sept. 25, 2024).