AdTech Benchmarks: Busting the Myths in “The New TV” Advertising Landscape

More Content and Greater Access Are Transforming Viewers’ TV Experience and Rewriting the Rules for TV Advertising Strategies

Comcast Spotlight, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable, released a research whitepaper entitled, “The New TV: Redefining Video for Viewers and Advertisers.” The paper explores how fundamental shifts in the TV viewing experience have opened new opportunities for advertisers. New distribution points and technological advancements have enabled TV advertisers to reach consumers throughout the full marketing funnel. The New TV comes with new rules, however, and demands refined advertising strategies to achieve the most effective results.

“While new viewing options have made TV advertising more complex, data helps to solve some of these complexities by making TV smarter”

“Contrary to the accepted industry narrative, TV today is thriving, with time spent viewing video reaching new highs, and it remains the most powerful way to reach consumers. It’s just a new TV, one that has evolved with more content and more consumer access,” said Hank Oster, chief operating officer and senior vice president, Comcast Spotlight. “It’s important we help advertisers understand the way the medium has evolved and how to harness the abundant time spent and its reach to grow their businesses.”

“Our clients are asking us for new ways to use TV that drive greater addressability and more accountability. But change is hard,” said Justin Evans, vice president of data strategy, Comcast Spotlight. “Big data has arrived in TV. It has expanded the way advertisers can use the medium, not just for awareness, but as a full funnel solution, to drive consideration and conversion as well.”

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Consumers: Richer Content, Unfettered Access

According to the paper, programming has been on a 20-year journey, moving from mainstream fare to increasingly more sophisticated storytelling. Quality content and access to that content has never been stronger, pushing viewers’ time spent with video to new highs. Proof points include the following:

• Creators are spending $65 billion per year on new content creation (MoffettNathanson Research 2018 Forecast for Production/Program Spending).
• 495 original scripted series were produced in 2018, up from 216 in 2010 (FX Networks, 2018).
• New access has led to binge watching and the resurgence of evergreen content, pushing total TV/video consumption up to over 5 hours a day (5:24)—65% more time than adults spend with non-video digital (Nielsen Total Audience Report, Q2 2018, adults daily time spent with TV/video).
• Households spend 43 minutes more with TV daily than in 1983; time is simply spread across more content and accessed in new ways (Nielsen, HH viewing, broadcast year 1982-83 compared to 2017-2018).

Marketers: New Data, Smarter Advertising

More advanced data is another key factor shaping The New TV, creating a new value proposition for the medium.

“While new viewing options have made TV advertising more complex, data helps to solve some of these complexities by making TV smarter,” said Evans.

More robust data comes from a variety of sources, such as advertisers, TV manufacturers and MVPDs, including Comcast set-top box (STB) data. With the data insights now available, marketers can focus on specific customer segments beyond broad age and gender criteria, similar to targeting in digital media.

Campaign goals can shift from driving broad awareness to driving lower funnel metrics, including consideration, intent and sales. It shifts the focus from exclusively using content to reach audiences and requires broadening the scope of networks, dayparts and programs.

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Best Practices: Driving Advertising Results

In order to optimize a campaign in The New TV landscape, advertisers must let go of long-held assumptions and understand the new viewing realities. For instance, according to insights gained from Comcast STB data:

• Reach is not limited to top networks: the average household watches an average of 17 different cable networks per month.
• Primetime is not the only valuable daypart: two-thirds of all viewing occurs outside of primetime.
• Live viewing is not limited to sports and news: the vast majority of viewing, 87%, is still live.

Comcast Spotlight has been working with advertisers on deploying data-driven campaigns, reflective of The New TV marketplace, in more than 25 markets. The learnings, as shared in the paper, reinforce the benefits of employing The New TV tactics.

For instance, Comcast Spotlight’s analysis of traditional TV campaigns in comparison to campaigns employing the rules of The New TV uncovered the following best practices, according to insights gained from Comcast STB data:

• Run Broad and Deep: Among 85 campaigns analyzed, the five highest-reaching campaigns achieved 81% reach and ran on 37 networks; the five lowest-reaching campaigns achieved 30% reach and ran on only 16 networks.
• Run Long: Reach continues to build after week one; in week 10, on average, campaigns delivered 184% increase over week one, and in week 15 they delivered a 227% increase.
• Add Different Formats: Linear TV campaigns that add video on demand can deliver as much as 17% of their unique reach in the non-linear format.

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To support TV’s evolution as a full-funnel solution, Comcast Spotlight is also working to help advertisers prove attribution by measuring the success of a TV campaign in driving visitors to an advertiser’s website. Again, research showed that in one case study employing The New TV tactics—including a balance of audience and content-focused targeting—website visits showed a 13% lift during the course of the campaign, compared to a 5% lift using a content-focused strategy alone.