Viewers' TV Time Affects How Advertisers Dish Dollars

While advertisers are looking for primetime ad space, they shouldn’t forget where the real opportunities lie -- with the viewers, who continue to access and engage with TV content in a variety of ways.

Knowing when and where to find consumers is crucial to reach them and ensure ads break through the clutter and catch attention.

• TGI…Sunday? When it comes to primetime television programming, gone are the days where the Friday night line up or must-see-TV Thursdays ruled our content consumption. Now people TV viewing takes place on Sundays.
• Time (Spent) Is Money. TV still dominates viewers’ time. In the US, people watched an average of 155 hours of traditional TV a month during the fourth quarter of 2013. But it’s no secret that audiences are viewing more content across screens. Americans watched an average of 14 hours of time-shifted TV per month and spent an average of 34 hours and 27 hours using smartphone apps and the Internet, respectively, during the same period. And when it comes to online video consumption, Americans now average 7.5 hours per month streaming video on their computers.
• Extending The TV Screen. With social media now a routine element of the TV-viewing experience, audiences are moving seamlessly across platforms to view and talk about their favorite shows. According to Nielsen, a whopping 86 percent of US smartphone owners say they use their devices while watching TV, and nearly half do it every single day.