'Platform Surfing': 74% Of Connected Device/Smart TV Users Stream; 44% Switch Between Streaming, Linear TV

At this point, it’s not surprising to have it confirmed that during any given 24-hour period, many viewers are routinely switching from linear TV to subscription-based video on demand (SVOD) and advertising-supported VOD (AVOD) services.

But proprietary data from Samsung Ads on U.S. users of smart TVs and connected devices offers a more specific look at this subset's behavior.

The data, spanning the period May 1 through July 31 of this year, were from 45 million smart TVs and 200 million connected devices.

While these viewers are still spending about 20% more time watching linear TV than streaming, streaming is catching up fast, according to highlights offered by Samsung Ads’ global head of analytics and insights, Justin Evans, who moderated a panel during Advertising Week.

A quarter (26%) of smart TV/connected device users are still linear TV-exclusive. Of the 74% who stream, 30% stream exclusively, and 44% move back and forth between streaming and linear.   

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SVOD streaming is still the leading streaming format, used by 85% of this viewer segment and comprising 60% of their streaming time. However, AVOD is catching up, with 61% of users and 40% of time spent. 

Obviously, this means that advertisers can reach these viewers 40% of the time that they're streaming.  

Evans cited one case study indicating that video campaigns using linear see strong reach and conversions among heavy linear viewers, not unsurprisingly. Connected TV succeeded at closing the conversion gap with light linear viewers, he reported.

 

1 comment about "'Platform Surfing': 74% Of Connected Device/Smart TV Users Stream; 44% Switch Between Streaming, Linear TV".
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  1. Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, September 24, 2019 at 10:50 a.m.

    Karlene, the way this reads one might get the impression that it reflects the actual situation nationally. But it seems that the findings are based on only 45 million "smart TV" sets---there are roughly 340 million sets of all types in the U.S.----mostly "stupid" ones. Assuming that these are electronic-based tallies, how do we know that the 45 million "smart TV" set owners---which may amount to only 25-30 million homes if some have more than one "smart TV"set, is representative of the entire country? Is is just possible that they are heavily weighted towards streaming households---maybe, frequent streaming homes?Again, I point out that other sources---like Nielsen---which purport to measure the behavior of all households---- are not showing comparable findings, especially regarding the extent of streaming activity  relative to "linear TV" consumption.

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