Gen Z and the Future of Television Advertising

In an effort to understand the future of television advertising, Tremor Video and Hulu partnered on a study to research the viewing habits of Generation Z compared to Millennials and Gen X. Gen Z is not only watching less television than their forebears but how they choose to access shows and movies is unique.

Even the language differentiates generations. The vast majority of Gen X say “watching TV” means access through cable or satellite whereas the majority of Millennials and Gen Z consider watching by an online source to qualify.

The reliance on streaming videos allows Gen Z to watch more at one time than through traditional cable or satellite. As reported in “How Gen Z Connects to TV: Exploring the Generational Divide in the Future of TV”, 60% of Gen Z watch multiple episodes in one sitting compared to just 44% of Gen X.

In an interesting twist, Gen Z is actually more receptive to advertisements and are the most likely to share video ads through social media. However, advertisers should be aware that Gen Z expects ads to be relevant to what they are viewing.

With 48% of Gen Z saying they watch less television than their parents, it would be wise to target ads thoughtfully. By advertising across platforms (48% of Gen Z say they browse social media while watching TV) and reducing ad loads, advertisers can reach Gen Z when it most counts.

Millennials Win the Prize for Most Active Online Video Viewers

According to research conducted by TiVo, Millennials are the most active online video viewers of any US generation. With that, TiVo dug deeper to find what type of video said Millennials are viewing.

The graph above shows that full length television shows are by far the most popular video streamed online by Millennials. The one surprise on the list, “videos of people playing video games”, but I guess if you’re a true gamer (unlike myself), it’s a necessity.

eMarketer expects to see a growth in online video viewers in upcoming years although it will be gradual since Millennials are already streaming at a high rate. 

Teens listen to music more on online streaming than radio

How do US teenagers primarily listen to music? Radio? Streaming? Owned music? For advertisers, it can be extremely important in knowing how a target audience seeks out media and entertainment. eMarketer recently reported on a fall 2014 study conducted by Edison Research. The focus was discovering how teens listen to music.

The study considered teenagers to be people between the ages of 13 and 17. As of fall 2014, online streaming platforms like Spotify and Pandora are ranked with more time spent listening than terrestrial radio. Teens spend about 64 minutes per day listening to online streaming and spend about 53 minutes a day with radio. In most other age categories, radio outperforms online streaming. In addition, teens have access to music through downloaded/owned music, etc.

With teenagers having a relatively easier access to computers, tablets, smartphones, and MP3 players that have Wi-Fi than traditional radios, it’s not surprising that there is a shift in listenership. Think about a bus commute, the time going to and from school on a bus could be new time spent listening to music.

It will be interesting to see if the gap between the time spent listening between radio and streaming will broaden over time as this age group matures out. The introduction of driving on a more regular basis where traditional radio is readily available may play a factor overall. 

Television is still prime media choice for US' youth

With all of the hype surrounding new technology and how the younger generations adapt earlier, it can lead to the question, what happens to the older technology? The simple answer is it is still there. eMarketer recently reported on a few studies that researched how younger audiences still consume television in spite of other newer digital options.

While the exact amounts of television consumption across younger age ranges differ amongst the research studies, each come to relatively the same conclusion. That is, television is still the primary media consumed by children. One study by Nielsen found that kids, between the ages of 2 and 11, watched approximately 111 hours and 10 minutes per month of “traditional” TV. These kids also spent another 10 hours and 45 minutes watching timeshifted television. In regards to content viewed on a DVD or Blu-ray player, children watched about 9 hours and 18 minutes per month. Another report by Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop put 8 to 10 year-olds as watching 1 hour and 24 minutes of TV per day. This information was according to the children’s parents.

With the introduction of streaming sites like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, or Amazon, kids have more access to on-demand programming. While the adult counterparts have been accused of “binge viewing” TV and movie content, the term “déjà view” has become a moniker for younger audiences. This term describes the habits of repeatedly watching the same episode or movie many times. If you have kids, how many times have you seen Frozen?

Younger American audiences are watching TV. While researchers may argue the exact amounts, the fact remains that television consumption is still high with the younger audiences.

Television dominates user viewership on subscription video-on-demand services

For those of you out there that subscribe to a video-on-demand (SVOD) service like Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime or Netflix, would you be surprised to find that television content dominated consumer viewing over movies? The company GfK recently did some research to see which consumers prefer.

According to MediaPost, the three services have the following viewership:

·        Amazon Prime: 79% view TV content vs. 21% view movie content

·        Hulu: 96% view TV content vs. 4% view movie content

·        Netflix: 77% view TV content vs. 23% view movie content

Research shows that on average of SVOD services, television had about 81% viewership vs. movies at 19%.

Interesting to note is that a large amount of viewing takes place on an Internet-connected TV device. A device could be a gaming console, Blu-ray player, etc.

The important take away from this for advertisers is the fact that consumers are seeking out TV content on a massive scale whether it’s on broadcast television or a subscription service. Advertisers may not be able to be on some of the SVOD’s yet; however, there are still ways to reach these people through digital initiatives and maintaining a strong broadcast schedule. 

More access to television shows leads to more binge-viewing

In order for advertisers to respond to consumer needs, it’s best to constantly be updated on consumer habits. According to MediaPost and eMarketer, Harris Interactive conducted a study this past February to record how US adults access time-shifted TV. Because of the numerous ways TV viewers are able to watch content, the phenomenon binge-viewing is continuing to grow.

Results showed that 80% of those surveyed watch TV through web-based subscription video on demand services (SVOD) like Netflix or Hulu, video-on-demand (VOD) cable or satellite, or through digital video recorders (DVRs).

In the findings, Harris reports that about 62% have watched multiple episodes of television shows in a row. This is called binge-viewing, which is most commonly watched through SVOD, VOD, DVRs, or DVDs. Interestingly enough, TV shows that tend to be the most binge-viewed are older shows or past seasons of current shows. Only about 12% of binge-viewing was done with current shows.

It is noteworthy that the younger demographics tend to have higher binge-viewership. According to the report, 18-29 year olds have a 78% likelihood to binge-view, 30-39 year olds are at 73%, and 40-54 year olds index at 58%. This behavior characteristic can be used to help advertisers craft a plan to reach the target audience. 

How do young consumers listen to music?

While streaming music online is growing more popular among consumers, it’s easy to forget that traditional radio still has a strong footprint in the media market. According to eMarketer, the research company The NPD Group conducted a survey over 4^th quarter 2012 on the music listening of US consumers between the ages of 13 and 35.

Results showed that the terrestrial radio still lead as the primary method, by a small margin, to listen to music.

24% listened to radio primarily

23% listened to internet radio primarily

15% listened to digital files primarily

CDs and Satellite radio both had less than 10% of responders, 9% and 5% respectively, chose it as a primary method of listening to music.

Another find was that the car is still the main place where the majority of those surveyed listen to most music. A good reason is that listeners are able to use multiple devices in the car like the radio, smartphones, mp3 players, and in-car infotainment systems.

How does this affect advertisers? Consumers want music, and they want it their way. Whether it’s from their preferred radio station, favorite playlist, new CD, or online streaming, people are going to access the music. Therefore, advertisers will need to really understand their customer and be able to reach them on various music platforms at the same time. There is no need to pull money out of traditional radio; listeners are still listening. Instead, online streaming vendors may need to be evaluated as a radio station and included in the overall buy in order to reach the desired audience.

Cable subscribers tend to watch more TV than non-subscribers

With the new generation of media consumers becoming more accustomed to watching video content on devices other than a television, what does that mean for video consumption?

According to eMarketer, Altman Vilandrie & Company conducted research on US cable subscribers and non-subscribers and how they view video content. It was found that about the same amount of subscribers and non-subscribers use online video subscription services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, etc. For example, 38% of people with cable and 39% of people without cable had Netflix.

The difference between the two groups is the amount of video viewed. While cable non-subscribers watch TV approximately 29.3 hours a month across a variety of devices like TV, PC, tablet and mobile, cable subscribers consume 59.5 hours a month.

Therefore, both groups are watching video content on the same kind of devices, however, cable subscribers tend to watch more.  

Be sure to visit Ruth Burke & Associates’ blog to find the latest in media news and receive helpful tips to make your advertising campaign successful...

Is Facebook the new way of streaming movies?

In yet another integration of traditional media and newer media, Warner Bros. has recently made a deal to stream its films on Facebook.

According to MediaPost, the arrangement allows for Facebook users to either rent or own films through the website’s movie platform. Payment can be made with traditional methods or through Facebook credits. For example, to rent a movie would cost 30 Facebook credits or $3. This rental would last for 48 hours.

The first movie available for this pay-per-view initiative will be “The Dark Knight.” More titles will be added to the site later in the year.

Some experts have begun comparing this online streaming method with other popular and established methods like Netflix, iTunes and Amazon. While Warner Bros. and Facebook do not have a large stock of films available to users, Facebook does boast a large audience. At the moment, Facebook has about 500 million users, which is about 480 million more users than Netflix subscribers. Therefore, there is a chance for this new method of online streaming to become a threat to other forms of streaming. This will depend on how the Facebook community will embrace it and recommend it to others.

Be sure to visit Ruth Burke & Associates’ blog to find the latest in media news and receive helpful tips to make your advertising campaign successful...