Samba TV has released its State of Viewership report covering Australia in Q2 of 2022.
The report analysed over 1.5 billion hours of linear and streaming and looked at what consumers choose and what advertisers need to know to reach them across today’s fragmented media landscape.
It found the recurring theme among the questions and challenges facing the industry is: the abundance of choice. The report also pointed out that consumers are shifting away from linear, with household reach and minutes viewed both down from 2021.
“With seemingly unlimited choices on what TV to watch and how to watch it, the average consumer can customise their viewing experience like never before,” the report said.
“As we grapple with the changing landscape, the impact of all these choices is taking form, pushing providers like Netflix to embrace the AVOD model and giants like Disney to prioritise best-in-class measurement.”
Samba TV’s report found that the need to maintain fresh content is at a “record high among streamers” and the even the most viewed series fizzles out following their first month.
The data from the second quarter findings show that there is “no longer a one-size-fits-all approach to advertising in the new era of choice”. But it does show that there are also more places than ever for advertisers to reach consumers.
TV Trends
The report found 5.2 million Australian households tuned in to linear TV each day on average throughout Q2 2022 – down just 1% from Q2 2021.
More Australians are watching TV content through BVOD and OTT and the number of traditional cable subscriptions is decreasing. Linear networks such as Channel Nine, ABC News, and 7mate saw lower average daily reach than Q2 2021.
But there were notable exceptions, including live TV events such as A-Leagues Men’s Soccer on 10 Bold and sports networks like Fox Cricket and Racing.com.
Live TV Events
Australians still turn to traditional channels for live coverage on major events, examples this year include Channel Nine’s State of Origin and ABC’s coverage of the federal election (1.1 million).
Game III of the State of Origin drew the largest audience with 2.6M Australian households watching and a 21% year-over-year increase from Game III in 2021.
The Voice on Channel Seven also performed well with a household reach of 1.3 million. The report also noted that the premiere brought about 15k more viewing households than the finale.
Advertising
The Samba TV report said that political advertising on linear saw a surge in the report as a result of the federal election, with the United Australia Party taking the top spot with the largest year-over-year spending increases.
It also found that as more Australians turn to streaming and BVOD, the number of viewers reach via linear ads shrunk to 7% in the second quarter of 2022.
“In fact, 93% of all linear television ads reached the same 55% of audiences at an average frequency of 75 ads per day. Meanwhile, the remaining 45% of audiences saw just 7% of ads, at a much lower average frequency of just eight ads per day,” the report noted.
As new car sales down 5% in 2022 as a result of a supply chain crisis, advertising budgets for car brands have have followed suit with seven of the top 10 automotive advertisers serving a lower number of impressions during Q2.
Meanwhile financial advertisers have leaned into the uncertainty of the inflation, rising cost of living and interest rates, and driving more linear impressions in Q2 2022 than Q2 2021.
Streaming Programmes
In streaming, Netflix saw a big 15-day viewership in the second quarter, led by season four of Stranger Things as well as the release of The Lincoln Lawyer, Anatomy of a Scandal, and Pieces of Her.
The Samba TV report also noted that Netflix is also one step closer to an ad-supported offering, with the streamer announcing Microsoft as their advertising partner – meaning soon advertisers will be able to better engage with these valuable audiences.
Disney+ followed with the releases of franchise favourites Marvel’s Moon Knight and Obi-Wan Kenobi clocking a high 4-day viewership and a whopping 72% of its 15-day viewership happening in those first 4 days.
The report also noted that two-thirds of premiere viewership happen within the first two weeks after new shows are released and between one-fourth and one-third of viewers binge top shows within their first five days.
Samba TV’s report concluded that viewers are turning to screens and streaming platforms more now than ever before for their content.
“Linear remains a draw for consumers interested in big live events like the State of Origin and election coverage, while streaming and BVOD services gain popularity in stride.
“As consumers have more choices than ever before, so too do advertisers, making it essential to base decisions on data and ensure the payoff of each ad dollar spent,” the report concluded.