Emmanuel Josserand, Senior Director of Brand, Agency, and Industry Relations at Comcast Advertising.
In the face of competition from user generated content platforms for ad spend, broadcasters frequently point to the power of premium, arguing that the professionally produced, brand-safe content found on TV offers unique value to advertisers.
Research commissioned by FreeWheel and run by consumer research business GWI which was released earlier this year backs up this claim. GWI’s data demonstrates that premium content is a major factor when it comes to TV content satisfaction, which in turn leads to better outcomes for advertisers.
But the research also highlighted two other major factors which affect TV content satisfaction, but which are less discussed in the industry: watching live TV and watching with loved ones. Given the impact these two factors can have, there are some interesting implications for how advertisers run TV campaigns, and how broadcasters sell their inventory.
VideoWeek spoke with Emmanuel Josserand, senior director of brand, agency, and industry relations at Comcast Advertising, to dig into the findings.
From loved ones to live lovers
There’s an intuitive pull to the idea that advertising is more effective when it’s delivered in a context where audiences are satisfied. “If you’re satisfied with the content you’re viewing, and your viewing environment, you’re going to be more receptive to the ads around that content, and they will have a greater impact,” said Josserand. GWI’s research backs this idea up.
For a start, satisfied TV viewers, according to GWI, are generally more tolerant of advertising. Fifty-five percent of satisfied viewers say there is an acceptable amount of advertising on TV, compared to 35 percent of non-satisfied viewers. Seventy percent of unsatisfied viewers say they skip TV ads as soon as they can, compared to 63 percent of satisfied viewers. Satisfied viewers are also more receptive to personalised ads, and more willing to exchange personal data for a more personalised TV advertising experience.
And satisfied viewers are less likely to cut their streaming subscriptions, including for services which run ads. Sixty percent of unsatisfied viewers reported they had cut their subscription to an ad-supported streaming tier in the past year, compared to 41 percent of satisfied viewers.
Content, unsurprisingly, plays a major role in driving content satisfaction, but it’s not the only factor. In fact, GWI’s research found three key factors: content quality, watching TV with loved ones, and watching live TV.
Asked to score (1 to 5) their satisfaction with the TV content market, the average score given by 16–64 year-olds is 3.66, according to GWI. For people who watch a lot of live content, this figure rises to 3.92, and for those who watch with loved ones, it sits at 4.06.
Josserand said that watching with loved ones and watching live content are fairly different experiences from solo watching of on-demand shows. For a start, both suggest more of an engaged, intentional viewing experience. And in a context where data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that people (in the US at least) are becoming less social, group TV watching can be a very valuable social experience.
“Communal gatherings behind a TV set have become very important, and they help bring more emotion, and make you more responsive,” said Josserand. “You’re going to talk about what’s on screen, you’re going to talk about the ads, and so you’re more likely to take action. And if you’re watching live with loved ones, there’s an incremental effect there too, and those effects go right through the marketing funnel.”
Indeed, GWI’s data suggests ads directed towards these audiences are more effective. Co-viewers who watch with loved ones, and those who love live tend to overindex against standard CTV viewers. They are more receptive towards the ad experience and are more likely to tell friends and family about new products and are more prone to buying premium versions of products.
Rethinking generational divides
GWI’s research also found that demographics generally don’t affect TV satisfaction. Satisfaction scores were almost identical for men and women, and had almost no variation between different age groups.
This might be surprising to some in the industry. “Sometimes there’s this perception that young generations don’t watch TV, they’re only watching other types of video,” said Josserand. “But in fact, the data we’ve seen shows they’re not so different from other age groups.”
GWI found some other pretty surprising results relating to age too. Fifty-four percent of 16–24 year olds say they tend to structure their evenings around TV, the same proportion as 25–34 year olds, just slightly less than 35–54 year olds (55 percent).
“Gen Z are still putting TV at the centre of their evenings, they’re making it an event, and they’re also watching it on a big screen in the living room,” said Josserand. “Yes, they do other things too, but there are moments where they sit and watch TV, and it’s also around prime time.”
This younger age group is also almost as likely to rewatch classic shows and series as those in the two older age brackets, and is more likely to watch this kind of content than 45+ viewers.
“We hear a lot from the buy-side about how they want to be next to the latest releases, and obviously they do get a lot of attention,” said Josserand. “But our data shows there is cross-generational interest in older content. A lot of younger people love to watch and rewatch classic movies and series. Old shows are still seen as premium, and they still get a lot of interest.”
Older age groups meanwhile are switching to newer forms of TV as quickly as some young generations. GWI’s data found that over a fifth of 55–64 year olds watch free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels provided by their smart TV at least once a day, almost exactly the same proportion as the 16–24 age bracket.
These findings suggest that any buyers who believe they’ll struggle to find younger audiences on (C)TV content, or who think older audiences stick strictly to traditional linear TV, are off the mark.
‘Satisfied reach’
For both the buy-side and the sell-side, Josserand said there are a number of big takeaways from the research.
Firstly, as already mentioned, buyers should be aware that preconceptions they have around who is watching TV nowadays and how might not be accurate. Josserand said that the research demonstrated at the top level the fact that audiences across the board are engaging a lot with premium CTV specifically. So, CTV shouldn’t just be seen as a means of extending reach beyond a traditional TV buy, it has significant reach all by itself.
There are also interesting implications and significant opportunities around targeting individual viewers in these CTV environments. Buyers shouldn’t become too focused on this type of targeting, since co-viewing has its own strengths.
And Josserand believes that the data on the benefits of audience satisfaction shows there’s plenty more discussion to be had around media quality.
“In ad sales conversations, we hear a lot about attention,” said Josserand. “I wonder if we should also be talking about ‘satisfied reach’, since satisfied audiences engage and respond more strongly to advertising. Maybe buyers should value ad spots differently where there’s co-viewing, or where there are satisfied audiences.”
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