Report: US social video attracts younger demo
June 4, 2021
Digital video measurement standards proponent the Global Video Measurement Alliance has issued a special report, Discovering Audiences On Social Video: How brands can leverage new reach in the changing media landscape, on the challenges facing media owners and advertisers during the 2021 upfronts season.
The report showcases how social video in the US attracts younger demographics, engages viewers at a high rate and is rapidly growing in comparison to linear TV and is an important complement to linear TV. It leverages data from Nielsen and Tubular Labs to compare traditional TV ratings with social video ratings. Highlights include:
Changes and challenges in the pay TV market
As widely reported, the decline in linear TV viewing across all demographics except adults 65 and older has been dramatic. Especially for teens and adults 18-34, who are watching less than half the linear TV than they were in 2010.
The challenges that advertisers and agencies are facing with linear TV supply are very present now. Advertisers that continue to rely on network and cable will face the continued challenge of CPM increases due to diminished supply.
Complementary audiences for social video and linear TV
Traditional linear TV companies have made national scale a major part of what’s offered to advertisers. For these companies, across all owned properties, social video offers 75 per cent of the reach that linear provides, and for Disney, nearly the same reach.
Social video provides a direct complement to linear TV. More than half of social video consumption comes from persons 18-34, compared to less than 10 per cent for linear TV. On the other hand, while more than 60 per cent of linear TV’s audience is be 55 and older, that demographic is less than 15 per cent of social video’s audience.
Status of social video in 2021
- Extensive national reach: Based on February 2021 data, there are 12 content genres based on Tubular data that reach over 33 per cent of persons 13 and older in the United States (and 4 that reach over 50 per cent).
- A rapidly growing audience: From February 2020 to February 2021, time spent on social video for persons 18-44 years old has grown by nearly 50 per cent.
- Highly engaged viewers: For adults 18-34, the engagement with social video is greater than it is for all persons 13 and older.