TV Cable

An average of just 44% of viewing of full-length TV shows is live, according to [download page] respondents to a study from Vubiquity. However, the survey was limited to consumers with access to video-on-demand services from a cable/telco/satellite provider, meaning that it may not be representative of the entire TV viewing population. (Previous research from Nielsen indicates that around 90% of broadcast and cable primetime viewing is live.) Still, the results suggest that live TV viewing is falling victim to alternative sources of content: respondents to the Vubiquity study indicate that 22% of their viewing of full-length TV shows is from a DVR, 14% is on demand, and 6% is via an online source, among others. Read more »

Online video attracts a significant audience, with 1 in 5 or more American adults watching a TV show online (23%), user-generated content (UGC - 31%), or originally produced online video (OPOV - 19%) on at least a monthly basis, per results from an IAB study [pdf] conducted by GfK. But who are these viewers? The study profiles the audience of each online video type, finding that they each skew male, but more so among OPOV viewers. Viewers of original online content also skew older than those who watch TV shows online. Read more »

The IAB has released a new research report [pdf], conducted by GfK, in conjunction with the 2013-2014 NewFronts event. As part of the study, the researchers reveal that among monthly users, network TV shows online ("TV Online") has the same "wantedness" score as sports on regular TV, and also rivals regular primetime TV, meaning that these viewers attach a similar importance to online and regular TV content. But what motivates viewing of different streaming video types? Read more »

An online survey of 5,000 US adults, conducted by Nielsen on behalf of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), reveals that respondents rate newspapers (in print and on the internet) as the most effective advertising source among various media. The study measured advertising effectiveness across various metrics, with print newspapers coming out on top overall, ahead of radio, internet, and TV. Breaking the media types down into different segments, the local paper topped the ratings for likelihood to purchase and propensity to notice ads. Read more »

It's becoming somewhat repetitive to use the words "online ad revenues" and "record" in the same sentence. Yet once again, online ad spend has reached a new peak, hitting $10.31 billion in Q4, up 14.9% year-over-year, according to [pdf] the latest revenue report from the IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers. That bests the previous peak for a quarter, set in Q3, which itself came after a record for first-half revenues. So it doesn't require tremendous powers of deduction to determine that full-year spending on internet advertising reached another high in 2012, growing by 15.2% to hit $36.57 billion. Read more »

78% of Americans have watched TV "on [their] own schedule," and 62% of those have watched multiple episodes of a TV show at a time ("binge viewing"), according to survey results from Harris Interactive. Binge viewers are engaging in this activity more often than last year, particularly younger viewers. Interestingly, though, Americans are more likely to expect their binge viewing to decrease (24%) rather than increase (9%) over the next year. The researchers note that binge viewing has big implications for the TV industry, particularly as advertisers struggle to reach viewers who are watching on alternative platforms such as Netflix. Read more »

The number of American pay TV subscribers cutting the cord to focus solely on Netflix, over the air, online, and other sources is growing faster than expected, according to the latest study from Convergence Consulting Group. Last year, the researchers predicted that 930,000 pay TV subscribers would cut the cord, but this year estimate that 1.08 million went ahead and did so. That represents 1.1% of pay TV subscribers, and means that between 2008 and 2012, 3.74 million (3.7%) of US TV subscribers cut their subscriptions. Read more »

Young people are wedded to their mobile phones, and as a new survey from Deloitte shows, value their mobile data plans more than their pay TV services. Consumers were asked to identify which 3 services they value the most among those their household purchases. While home internet access was valued by most respondents across all generations, trailing Millennials (14-23) were 14% more likely to cite their mobile internet/data plan than their pay TV service (49% vs. 43%), and leading Millennials (24-29) were 20% more likely to do so (54% vs. 45%). Read more »

TV ad spending growth rates in the US continue to outpace the aggregate of all media, according to MarketingCharts analysis of figures both provided and publicly released by Kantar Media. This article examines: how TV ad spending has continued to grow in the US despite a nearly saturated audience; why TV remains the prime medium for ad spending; the segments that are growing most rapidly; and projected TV ad spending growth rates up to 2016. Read more »

52% of Millennials are above-average in terms of their adoption of technology, and these early adopters are heavily reliant on their mobile devices as sources of information, communication, and entertainment. But they still keep traditional media firmly in the mix, according to an Experian Marketing Services report. While mobile phones were used by a leading 94% in the 7 days prior to the survey, 93% watched TV, 83% listened to the radio, and 66% read a newspaper. Read more »