Free-Ad Supported Streaming Services Offer New Opportunities for Local Advertisers

When consumers flip on their TVs, they aren’t always just streaming their favorite content on a single platform. Increasingly, many consumers are tapping into the array of streaming services. According to a new survey of over 2,000 US adults conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of ZypMedia, the local-first, AI-powered enterprise software platform that manages all digital advertising offerings for media and broadcast companies, nearly half are tuning into local (i.e. NewsOn, CBSLocal) or free, ad-supported (i.e. Pluto TV, XUMO and Roku) streaming services to watch their favorite TV shows and movies, at 47 percent and 46 percent respectively.

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Millennials Prefer Local Ads vs. National Ads  
When it comes to consumers that watch free, or ad-supported streaming TV, 62 percent of consumers that have a preference between watching local or national commercials, prefer local ads.  That number is slightly more, at 68 percent for consumers that watch local streaming services. This is particularly true for millennials (defined as ages 18-34) who watch free, or ad-supported over-the-top (OTT) streaming services. They prefer local ads more than consumers ages 55+.

“While SVODs like Netflix and HULU garner much of the world’s attention, free, ad-supported and local streaming services are becoming powerful platforms for brands to make an impact in local markets around the country,” said Aman Sareen, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, ZypMedia. “Millennials are particularly responsive to local advertising messages, making ad-supported OTT a valuable channel.”

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Cord Cutters and Cord Shavers are Still Receptive to Commercials  
According to the survey, 30 percent of US adults are “cord cutters – they used to watch cable or satellite TV but now watch all content via streaming services – while even more (37 percent) are “cord shavers” and watch both. Yet even cord cutters are still receptive to commercials, more than half (52 percent) indicated that they don’t mind watching them, and 47 percent of cord shavers also agree.

In addition, more than half (51 percent) of consumers that ever watch free, ad-supported streaming services agree that the commercials that they see on streaming services are more relevant than the commercials they see on cable TV.

Sareen concluded, “With the rich targeting capabilities that OTT provides, local advertisers can now tap into this growing audience, many of which are cutting the cord, in favor of streaming.”

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