How Streaming Changed Television Advertising — and Consumer Behavior

Television has always had something going for it that many other advertising mediums don’t: people often watch it together.

A couple may be sitting on the couch when an advertisement for a new vehicle appears. Someone mentions that maybe it really is time to replace the old one. A roofing commercial runs during the evening news, and suddenly two homeowners are talking about that spot over the garage that probably isn’t going to survive another winter.

That shared viewing experience can help advertising start conversations, particularly when the product or service involves a household decision.

What has changed dramatically is where all that television viewing happens.

There was a time when reaching a large television audience was relatively straightforward. ABC, CBS, and NBC captured enormous portions of American viewing. Cable expanded the choices considerably, but advertisers could still buy television based largely on networks, programs, and times of day.

Those days are gone.

But television advertising certainly isn’t.

Streaming Didn’t Kill Television. It Changed How We Watch It.

Streaming had already been changing viewing habits for years when the pandemic accelerated adoption. Since then, the lines between “watching television” and “streaming” have continued to blur.

People now watch television through traditional broadcast stations, cable and satellite providers, smart TVs, streaming devices, streaming apps, virtual television providers, and combinations of all of the above.

And increasingly, they don’t think much about which delivery system they’re using.

They just want to watch the show.

Streaming now accounts for a substantial portion of television viewing in the United States, but traditional television hasn’t vanished. Live sports, news, special events, and local programming continue to give broadcast and cable important roles in the viewing landscape.

For advertisers, that means the question is no longer simply, “Should we advertise on television?”

The better question is, “How does our audience watch television?”

What Does This Mean for Television Advertising?

When I originally wrote about this shift, I said it wasn’t useful to describe the new television landscape as either better or worse. It was simply different.

That’s even more true today.

Traditional television advertising still has advantages. Local broadcast television can provide a broad reach within a market, and programming such as local news and live sports can gather large audiences at the same time. For the right local business, that’s still valuable.

But streaming and connected TV advertising give advertisers another option: instead of buying primarily based on the program or channel, advertisers can often buy around the audience they’re trying to reach.

That changes the conversation considerably.

What Is Connected TV Advertising?

Connected TV, usually shortened to CTV, generally refers to television-like programming delivered through an internet-connected television or streaming device.

Think about watching an ad-supported streaming service through a smart TV, Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, or another connected device. The viewer is still sitting in front of a television screen watching programming, but the content is being delivered through an internet connection rather than exclusively through traditional broadcast, cable, or satellite distribution.

You’ll also hear the term OTT, or “over-the-top,” used in this space. The terms are related, although they aren’t exactly interchangeable. OTT describes video content delivered over the internet, while CTV generally refers to the connected television environment where much of that content is watched.

For a business owner, you don’t need to become an expert in the alphabet soup. What matters is understanding that television advertising can now be purchased in very different ways.

CTV Allows More Audience-Based Targeting

Traditional television advertising has generally been bought around geography, programming, ratings, and the expected audience for a particular show or time period.

Connected TV can add another layer.

Depending on the platform, provider, available data, and privacy restrictions, advertisers may be able to build audiences using characteristics such as geography, interests, behaviors, demographics, or other audience information.

Instead of saying, “People who watch this program are probably the people we want,” the advertiser may have more opportunities to begin with, “These are the households we’re trying to reach.”

That’s particularly interesting for local and regional advertisers.

A business that once considered television advertising too broad may find that connected TV gives it ways to narrow the audience geographically and strategically while still getting the impact of sight, sound, motion, and a large screen.

Traditional Television Still Has a Job

It would be easy to look at the growth of streaming and conclude that traditional television no longer matters.

That’s too simple.

People still gather around live programming. They watch sports together. They watch breaking news and major events. Local television still reaches people within a geographic market, and for certain advertisers, that broad local reach is exactly what they need.

A roofing company doesn’t necessarily need to identify the precise homeowner who will need a roof six months from now. It may benefit from becoming a familiar name in the community so that when someone’s roof starts leaking, the company is already top of mind.

That’s a different advertising objective from targeting someone actively shopping for a particular product.

Both can be valuable.

Streaming Advertising Isn’t Automatically Better Advertising

This is important because new technology tends to arrive with an impressive sales pitch.

Connected TV can provide sophisticated targeting and measurement opportunities, but that doesn’t mean every CTV campaign is automatically efficient or every impression is equally valuable.

The streaming marketplace is fragmented. Inventory comes from different publishers, apps, platforms, and programmatic systems. Measurement can vary. Advertisers still need to pay attention to where their ads are running, who they’re intended to reach, frequency, creative quality, and what they’re actually measuring.

Technology gives us better tools.

It doesn’t eliminate the need for a strategy.

The Television Commercial Still Has to Be Good

Whether your commercial appears during the local news or inside a streaming program, people still have to pay attention to it.

Targeting can’t rescue a bad message.

Television gives you sight, sound, motion, personality, emotion, and storytelling. That’s an enormous creative opportunity. Use it.

Show people something. Tell a story. Let them meet the people behind the business. Demonstrate the product. Give them a reason to remember your name.

This is one of the reasons video can work so well across marketing channels. A strong piece of video creative may have uses well beyond the original media buy, including your website, social channels, presentations, and other digital marketing.

Shared Viewing Still Makes Television Different

One thing that hasn’t disappeared with streaming is the television set itself.

People still watch television together.

That’s worth remembering because many digital advertising measurements are based on devices, accounts, or households. The television screen may have two, three, or more actual people sitting in front of it.

That makes television different from an advertisement served to one person scrolling on a phone.

It can also make measurement more complicated. If three people are watching the same television, an advertising platform may know that an ad was delivered to the household without knowing precisely which person was paying attention.

As with most marketing measurements, the numbers are useful — but understanding what the numbers actually represent is even more useful.

Don’t Choose the Medium Before You Know the Audience

This is probably the biggest lesson in all of this.

Don’t start with, “We need to be on streaming.”

Don’t start with, “Television doesn’t work anymore.”

And don’t start with, “Everyone is on social media, so that’s where we should spend everything.”

Start with the people you’re trying to reach.

Who are they? Where are they? What are they watching? How old are they? What are they buying? Is this a household decision or an individual one? Are you trying to generate an immediate response or build awareness over time?

Once you understand those things, you can make much better decisions about the media.

This is also why frequency and repetition matter. A single perfectly targeted commercial isn’t necessarily going to make someone remember your business. Television and streaming work best when they’re part of a plan that gives the right audience enough opportunities to recognize and remember your message.

The Best Media Plan May Include Both

For some businesses, the answer won’t be traditional television or connected TV.

It may be both.

A local television campaign may build broad awareness while connected TV adds targeted reach. Radio may reinforce the message during the commute. Search advertising may catch people when they begin actively looking. Social media and email may continue the relationship.

Each medium has a different job.

That’s why we don’t believe in choosing advertising channels because they’re fashionable. We choose them because they make sense for the audience, the objective, and the budget.

What Does This Mean for Your Business?

Consumer behavior will continue to change. The streaming services people use today won’t necessarily be the same ones dominating the conversation several years from now, and the technology advertisers use to reach those viewers will continue to evolve.

That’s exactly why the strategy can’t depend on a list of popular platforms.

Our job at Paradux Media Group is to understand how the media landscape is changing without chasing every shiny new thing that appears in it.

Depending on your business, audience, and campaign goals, the right advertising mix might include local broadcast television, connected TV, streaming video, radio, social media, search, or something else entirely.

If you haven’t reviewed your advertising strategy recently, it may be time to look at where your customers are actually spending their time and whether your media plan still reflects that behavior.

Give us a call, and let’s talk about your audience, your goals, and where your advertising dollars have the best opportunity to do their job.