Dive Brief:
- For the first time in two years, Nielsen has added new households to its U.S. TV homes estimates — raising its estimate by two million households to bring the total figure up to 118.4 million TV homes, according to Ad Week.
- Nielsen estimates those TV homes comprise 301.7 million people over the age of two, a 1.6% increase over last year's 296.8 million.
- Nielsen found 96% of homes receive traditional TV signals one way or another, up from last year's estimate of 95.2% but down from 96.1% in 2014. Nielsen uses U.S. Census Bureau data combined with its own national TV panel for its projections.
Dive Insight:
More people than ever are watching TV, but people aren’t watching TV in the same way they once did. Linear TV is increasingly about on-demand viewing of content: Nielsen now defines a “TV household” as one that has a TV or monitor that can deliver video via an antenna, cable set-top box, satellite receiver, or a broadband connection.
For marketers, it’s all about understanding where, when and how an audience is watching and willing to engage. Big brands with big budgets can conduct brand awareness campaigns on linear TV, while smaller brands might have to pick and choose when and where TV makes sense.
The future value of TV ads remains to be seen as marketing dollars continue moving toward digital and eyeballs flock to digital content. Other players, such as social media platforms, are coming out with new capabilities and offerings that are increasingly bringing TV-like content and experiences to digital formats.