Data: 95% linear TV ad impressions reach 55% viewers
March 15, 2022
About 95 per cent of linear TV advertising impressions were served to just 55 per cent of viewers in Q4 2021, according to smart TV data from viewership company Samba TV across the UK, the US, Australia and Germany.
Although heavy TV viewers make up just 20 per cent of all households, they account for more than 60 per cent of ad impressions. Medium viewers, who make up 35 per cent of households, are served 33 per cent.
As a result, light viewers make up 45 per cent of households but receive just 5 per cent of linear TV ad impressions. This varies from 3 per cent in the US to 6 per cent in Germany.
This has actually declined between Q4 2020 and Q4 2021, suggesting that linear TV ads are increasingly reaching a smaller subset of people. In the US, for example, light viewers’ share of impressions fell by 25 per cent.
Over the same period, linear impressions have increased at a quicker rate than the unique household reach. This means higher TV impressions are leading to higher frequency as opposed to incremental reach.
Instead, Samba TV suggests advertisers should integrate connected TV and digital video into their buying strategies for incremental reach. Watching YouTube content on a TV device is particularly popular with audiences.
This aligns with previous research showing linear TV is registering smaller audiences but higher consumption. WARC Data’s latest forecast shows linear TV advertising spend is set to grow by 1 per cent worldwide this year, with online video formats rising by 20 per cent. Both are also expected to see the quickest rate of media inflation in 2022.