Podcast #1137: The State of TV Viewership

On this week's show we take a look at a new report on the state of TV viewership. We also read your emails and take a look at the week's news. Finally We congratulate Eric Melton of Riverside CA on winning the CSS Audio Torii P2 Tower Speakers!

News:

• Walmart in talks to buy Vizio for more than $2 bln
• TV Giants Team Up for Sports Comeback vs. Streamers
• Amazon's Prime Video Gets Exclusive NFL Playoff Game Next Season
• YouTube TV rolling out shortcut to switch between last-viewed channels on Roku

Other:

• Prime Video cuts Dolby Vision, Atmos support from ad tier—and didn't tell subs | Ars Technica

The State of TV Viewership

Samba TV gathers viewership data via its proprietary Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology from tens of millions of opted- in Smart TVs. Samba TV's ACR is integrated at the chipset level across 24 of the top Smart TVs sold in more than 100 countries globally and captures content that crosses the TV screen, regardless of source. This results in unbiased, comprehensive viewership insights from around the world.

In this report, Samba TV first-party data is supplemented with data from a nationwide survey conducted within the U.S. from 8/22/23- 8/30/23 among 2,507 adults by HarrisX. Results were weighted for age, gender, region, race/ethnicity, and income where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population.

Monthly cable or satellite TV subscription

• Gen Z 39%
• Millennials 47%
• Gen X 47%
• Baby Boomers 57%

Total TV hours watched: OTT & linear

OTT Linear

Q3 '22 1.40M 22B

Q4 '22 1.39M 23B

Q1 '23 1.45M 23B

Q2 '23 1.30M 18.5B

Q3 '23 1.75M 21.5B

Q4 '23 1.62M 21.5B

What TV Services viewers are watching less because they are watching FAST?

• 18% Transactional video-on-demand(TVOD) services (Pay per view or rent through Amazon or Apple )
• 22% Virtual pay-TV services (IPTV)
• 23% Traditional broadcast/pay-TV services
• 32% Subscription video-on-demand(SVOD) services (Netflix Etc)
• 34% Not watching less of any service

Subscribers to virtual multichannel TV services watch eight TV channels, on average, compared to 10 TV channels for traditional multichannel TV households, according to a recent Kagan US Consumer Insights survey. Video cord cutters and cord nevers who receive over-the-air local broadcast TV programming report watching three to four TV channels.

Percentage of Cable and Satellite subscribers said they watch:

• ABC 62%
• CBS 60%
• NBC 60%
• Fox 50%
• ESPN 39%
• HIST 38%
• TNT 34%
• DISC 33%
• USA 33%
• TBS 32%

Top TV Channels for IPTV subscribers

• ABC 45%
• CBS 43%
• NBC 40%
• Fox 37%
• ESPN 31%
• HBO 26%
• DISN 26%
• FX 26%

Top three SVOD Services for Cable and Satellite subscribers

• Netflix 52%
• Amazon Prime Video 49%
• Hulu 32%

Top four SVOD Services for IPTV subscribers

• Netflix 62%
• Amazon Prime Video 60%
• Hulu 55%
• Disney+ 43%

Top three FAST Services for Cable and Satellite subscribers

• Tubi 22%
• Pluto TV 22%
• Freevee 17%

Top four FAST Services for IPTV subscribers

• Tubi 34%
• Pluto TV 33%
• Roku Channel 32%
• Freevee 26%

Percentage of population that streams content on mobile

• Gen Z 91%
• Millennials 88%
• Gen X 73%
• Baby Boomers 43%
• Silent 30%

Most popular program amongst single program viewers for the second half of 2023

• Netflix Quarterback S1
• Disney+ Ahsoka S1
• AppleTV+ Hijack S1
• Prime Video Jack Ryan S4
• Max And Just Like That S2
• Paramount+ Special Ops Lioness S1
• Hulu The Kardashians S4

45% of households that watched the top bingeable premieres of the second half of 2023 finished the season in five days.

68% of U.S. adults identify themselves as binge-watchers, while 76% of millennials do.

89 out of the 100 most watched linear programs of the second half of 2023 were related to sports. 76% of those 89 programs were NFL football.

Top five second half of 2023 linear programs

1. ABC - Monday Night Football - Kansas City Chiefs vs Philadelphia Eagles
2. NBC - Sunday Night Football - New York Jets vs Kansas City Chiefs
3. ABC - Monday Night Football - New York Jets vs Buffalo Bills
4. NBC - Sunday Night Football - San Francisco 49ers vs Dallas Cowboys
5. NBC - Sunday Night Football - Dallas Cowboys vs Philadelphia Eagles

Top five second half of 2023 linear programs (excluding sports)

1. NBC - 97th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
2. CBS - 60 Minutes 11/26 - Rise; Sealand; Ancient Vines
3. CBS - 60 Minutes 12/10 - The Resistance; Red and Green; Novak Djokovic
4. CBS - 60 Minutes 10/29 - Vice President Harris; A Quiet Invasion; The Air We Breathe; The State of the Blues
5. CBS - 60 Minutes 9/17 - President Zelenskyy; Into the Streets; Prime Time in Colorado

Despite the resounding success that Barbie vs. Oppenheimer saw, one pre-pandemic behavior has stuck around: strong viewership once these movies hit streaming platforms. While many movies land on paid video-on-demand platforms like Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video first, the data shows that it isn't until these titles hit popular streaming platforms for free that viewers opt to watch, making rights to these movies a huge win for streamers.

Average number of TV ads seen per day by the top 50% of linear TV households was 150

Average number of TV ads seen per day by the bottom 50% of linear TV households was 13

3 in 4 U.S. adults look at a mobile device while watching TV

8 in 10 of those U.S. adults look at a mobile device more than half the time while watching TV

1 in 3 U.S. adults shop online while streaming TV

47% of Gen Z has subscription cycled in the past 6 months

61% of Gen Z is unreachable via traditional TV

76% of Gen Z hears about new TV shows and movies through social media

60% of millennials watch live sports on TV

73% of millennial parents subscribe to a streaming service just for their children

76% of millennials classify themselves as binge watchers