Dive Brief:

• The “Do We Have Consensus” report from the Video Advertising Bureau found that advertisers believe 32% of viewers watch content on live or recorded TV while Nielsen’s figures for viewers 18-years-old and up shows 82% are engaged in TV viewing. That figure was boosted with 11% watching on a TV-connected device.
• The same report found that advertisers underestimate the amount of time people watch TV as 67% of the advertising industry believes that adults spend two or less hours viewing TV daily when the actual figure is four hours and 35 minutes.
• The results of VAB’s survey indicate that marketers are overestimating the influence of the second screen and cord-cutters.

Dive Insight:

While the report's results address viewers 18-years-old and up, marketers are likely testing where their audience is actually engaging with messages, which could be younger consumers who are heavy mobile users. For this reason, the report doesn’t present a clear picture on the generational trendline. Other studies point to younger generations being much less likely to watch video on TV.

The overall message of the report is people watch more TV than they commonly report. With viewing habits still very much in flux as new behaviors like binge-watching and on-the-go viewing evolve, an important takeaway for marketers is that they should be paying close attention where viewing is taking place and not automatically buy into the hype around one channel or another.

There is value in brand awareness, and the VAB report points out the ongoing value of TV as a venue to reach people. Recent moves by big brands like Coca-Cola to recommit themselves to TV spending echo this finding. Still, marketers would be wise to understand where their audience watches video ads and engages in messaging.