• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, May 16, 2019

Rita Ferro, president of advertising sales and partnerships of The Walt Disney Company, delivered some good numbers for data-hungry marketers at ABC’s upfront presentation -- young, digital-centric numbers.

The list includes 4 billion social media interactions for all its programming in a recent period, which we presume includes Fox-related businesses. This can be key for those all-important “engagement” connections of traditional TV viewers, according to TV executives.

Ferro also talked up that “62% of millennials” connected to Disney-ABC content, more than other TV-media companies.

ABC also talked up its connection with Google -- something millennials also know well.

But what about the specific, TV audience connections? Don’t worry. Ferro says Disney-ABC says it has identified 1,000 different audience segments. ABC also has “tested” this using marketing first-party data through its big Walt Disney consumer database.

There’s more: Consumers spent over 45 billion hours in 2018 with Disney content. And every month, Disney-ABC connects with 275 million people across all screens and audiences, where over half of those people -- 145 million -- are getting that content from digital and OTT platforms.

All that is good. But is it all that marketers need -- the return on media investment stuff, “business outcome” stuff marketers increasingly are seeking?

Maybe TV networks aren’t quite there yet. But the overwhelmingly message from virtually all TV network executives during this upfront presentation period is this: Reach, reach, and reach. TV networks have it -- others, not so much.

Recent results have shown, for example, that CBS maintains the top spot in this category with a 72.2% reach. ABC, NBC and Fox were between 72% and 68%. Cable networks are lower: ESPN, for example, has been around 40%. In the mid-to-low 30% range are AMC Network, Lifetime, Disney Channel, FX, TBS and TNT.

And what about digital media reach?  Let’s talk about Disney -- ABC specifically. 

Ferro says 145 million viewers are getting content from digital and OTT platforms, which amounts to two out of every three people on the internet. “We are second in digital reach behind Google.”

Apart from audience segments, and key performance indicators (KPIs) for marketers, two questions remain for other TV networks and all digital media platforms. Sure, you have reach. But what exact media segments? What is its specific value?