Study: Majority Of Young Millennials Consume OTT Rather Than Broadcast Content

by Tobi Elkin , June 5, 2017

A new study on the media consumption and content discovery habits of young Millennials -- 18- to-26-year-olds -- found the most common way for them to consume TV content (71%) is over-the-top TV (OTT) platforms, with one in two watching entertainment exclusively on desktop or mobile devices.

The study, by creative agency Anatomy, finds this demo's awareness of broadcast and OTT brands is poor.

Other study findings include:

--58% of young Millennials learn about new programming directly through friends and family or on social media. They are less likely to recall advertising in discovering new TV programs.

--Netflix yielded the highest brand awareness scores in comparison to other OTT platforms and broadcast networks, with 65% of young Millennials matching Netflix programs to the Netflix brand. In contrast, only 31% of young Millennials matched ABC, CBS, and NBC programs to their respective brands. Amazon programs were only linked with Amazon 20% of the time, and Hulu came in at 15%.

--Brand awareness scores are positively correlated with screen touchpoint rankings. The study analyzed broadcast and OTT network brands across six dimensions (on-air promotion, Web, mobile, SEO, Facebook, and digital ads) in order to rank each brand’s performance. Netflix yielded the highest screen touchpoint ranking and brand awareness score.

--Facebook engagement is strongly correlated with higher brand awareness scoresamong broadcast networks and OTT platforms. Higher Facebook engagement on branded posts strongly correlated with higher brand awareness scores.

--The 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET time frame generates 236% more engagements on Facebook than other publishing windows. On average, posts published during this window generated twice as much engagement than posts published at other times of day.

The survey looked at more than 3,100 young Millennials. Overall, Anatomy found networks and OTT providers need to work on building awareness behind programming, because strong brands are used as curatorial tool by viewers.

It indicates that young Millennials who watch primarily on TV sets are, on average, better than desktop and mobile viewers at connecting broadcast program brands to network brands.

The problem for broadcast networks is that 50% of young Millennials watch exclusively on desktop or mobile devices. And linear viewership is declining while desktop and mobile viewing is growing.

broadcast networks, facebook, millennials, ott, streaming, television, tv, video

2 comments about "Study: Majority Of Young Millennials Consume OTT Rather Than Broadcast Content ".

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Suzanne Sell from Independent, June 5, 2017 at 1:54 p.m.
Not surprising, considering that this demo has always been the lightest-viewing segment in television. This demo is often living with others in an apartment or in a parent's basement, where there's not a lot of room for a big-screen TV. And now there are so many more choices in both programming and the platform on which to watch. Naturally, this impacts brand recognition. Why not lead with that, instead of the old saw that TV sets are on their way out? They still are the 500-lb. gorilla of viewing options, and aren't likely to die.
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Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics, June 6, 2017 at 8:46 a.m.

I wonder how many advertises are targeting "young millennials" to the exclusion of "old millennials" or, worse, "boomers" and old folks? Probably not many. Even if you have a broader target group, it will always be composed of various and, often, somewhat diverse mindsets and consumer segments. The main issue in such cases should not be how can we beef up our GRPs in every segment, but, rather, what's our share of voice---GRPs---- in each segment. As Suzanne points out, the "young millennials" watch very little TV and, consequently, they not only see very few of a given brand's commercials but the same is true for rival barnds. So, is it better to pull GRPs away from the rest of your broader target group, thereby lowering your share of voice generally, to add incremental GRPs among "young millennials"---presumably via digital video ads? How are sales now among the "young millennials"? Can we expect significant inrceases with added ad spending among such consumers to the point where the redirection pays out? Will the trade-offs improve overall ROI? And will the "young millennials" even see your digital video ads? Who knows?