Survey: US streamers prefer local ads over national
April 10, 2019
When consumers turn on their TVs, they aren’t always just streaming their favourite content on a single platform. Increasingly, many consumers are tapping into the array of streaming services. According to a survey of over 2,000 US adults conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of ZypMedia, the AI-powered, enterprise software platform, 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 favourite TV shows and movies, at 47 per cent and 46 per cent respectively.
Millennials Prefer Local Ads vs. National Ads
When it comes to consumers that watch free, or ad-supported streaming TV, 62 per cent of consumers that have a preference between watching local or national commercials, prefer local ads. That number is slightly more, at 68 per cent for consumers that watch local streaming services. This is particularly true for millennials (defined as ages 18-34) who watch free, or ad-supported 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.”
Cord Cutters and Cord Shavers are Still Receptive to Commercials
According to the survey, 30 per cent 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 per cent) are “cord shavers” and watch both. Yet even cord cutters are still receptive to commercials, more than half (52 per cent) indicated that they don’t mind watching them, and 47 per cent of cord shavers also agree.
In addition, more than half (51 per cent) 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 favour of streaming.”