Last week, the IAB reported on digital ad spend. One of the key highlights was video, and AdNews reported that “Connected TV is now the dominant device for video inventory expenditure, increasing to 38% from 31% for the September quarter, while desktop, 34%, and mobile, 28%, expenditure both slightly decreased.”
In our recent report on total video, known as the 7 Things To Know About Total Video, we found that more than half (53%) of all Catch Up TV (BVOD) viewing minutes were consumed on a TV screen based on a diary study of Australian viewers. This data broadly aligns with the proportion of Connected TV viewing as reported by the commercial networks in the Australian Financial Review.
Due to the limitations in most VOD measurement systems, the number of people viewing on each screen is often overlooked. In our study, we observed that Connected TV not only had more viewing overall, but also attracted more viewers on average (1.7 viewers) for every stream, compared to desktop / laptops, tablets and smartphones.
This finding about viewers per stream aligns with earlier research I produced while working at Yahoo7 that was also presented at the ASI APAC Television & Video Conference in Singapore. This work showed that while the number of ads recalled per person was slightly lower for Connected TV, we found that the compound effect of having more people viewing, meant that there was greater ad impact per stream for Connected TV overall.
This is an important finding, since most advertisers still purchase video based on ad impressions, rather than a people-based impact. Given the growth in revenue, we think increased measurement in this space is vital, and will only bring even more focus to Connected TV.
For more information about the ‘7 Things To Know About Total Video’ research, or to download a lite version of the report, please click here.