TV: STILL THE MOST EFFICIENT REACH MEDIUM

Compared with Social Media and Digital Video, Television remains the most efficient option for brands looking to achieve reach.  This year, it’s projected that advertisers will spend 21 cents per user hour for TV, versus 28 cents for Digital Video and 60 cents for Social.  Admittedly, those differences don’t seem significant when we’re talking in terms of cents.  Looking at the monthly cost per adult user, TV is projected at $310 this year versus $505 for Digital Video—nearly 40% more efficient.  Audio-only platforms remain the lowest-cost options, but don’t have TV’s reach. (Marketing Charts: May 13, 2024)

SVOD ADS DON’T DIMINISH VIEWERSHIP

People may gripe about commercials, but the increasing presence of ads on subscription platforms hasn’t stopped them from watching.  A study from Involved Media shows that with or without commercial breaks, viewer behavior remains basically unchanged and for many (including Netflix, Prime Video, and Hulu), daily usage has actually increased. (MediaVillage: May 8, 2024)

TVB: NIELSEN SHOULD CLARIFY REPORTING

The Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) has questioned Nielsen’s most recent TV reporting.  Nielsen’s monthly Gauge report aggregates TV viewing across all linear and non-linear sources, regardless of whether the sources include ads.  The TVB says this misleads advertisers into believing their commercials are reaching more viewers than they actually are.  For their part, Nielsen asserts that they never claimed their figures were exclusively for ad-supported viewing.  The TVB and other groups have requested that Nielsen break out the numbers to measure commercial viewership accurately. (MediaPost: May 15, 2024)

I’LL TAKE JEOPARDY! SPINOFFS FOR $100

Remember when VH1 aired Rock & Roll Jeopardy?  Hosted by a pre-Survivor Jeff Probst?  Seriously, just me?  They did like 100 episodes!  Anyway, Sony Pictures Television has announced another spinoff, this one to stream on Amazon Prime Video.  Pop Culture Jeopardy! will pit teams of three against each other to test their knowledge of topics like The Avengers.  Sony has not yet announced a host or a start date.  (New York Times: May 14, 2024)

THIS WEEK IN VIDEO HISTORY

May 14, 1998 – May marks the close of the traditional TV season, and over the years, a lot of series have ended around this time.  We’ll single out one: Seinfeld’s two-part finale.  Viewers—76.3 million of them—tuned in to see what would become of Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer.  It wasn’t as divisive as the end of The Sopranos, but people didn’t love it.  (Twenty-six years later, Seinfeld and Larry David acknowledged this in the Curb Your Enthusiasm series finale.)