As content monetization remains a top priority across the streaming landscape, distribution strategies are shifting to cast much bigger nets than they have in the past—a trend we first noted in our 2023 年游戏状况报告. Case in point, Nielsen’s U.S. streaming top 10 list for the week of Sept. 18, 2023, included five different acquired titles1 that are available to stream on multiple services, with one title available on three platforms.
在这一周内，美国观众观看这五个节目的总时间超过 42 亿分钟。这比观众在同一周观看排名前 10 位的原创节目所花费的时间多出 72%。
The availability of content in more than one place reflects a shift in distribution strategies—one that has been taking shape throughout this year. During the week of Jan. 2, 2023, for example, none of the top 10 acquired programs were available on multiple platforms. A week later, New Amsterdam hit the top 10 list after debuting on Netflix and Peacock. At the start of fall, almost half of the top 10 acquired titles were available on multiple services.
在整个媒体领域，向更广泛传播战略的转变是显而易见的，它反映了许多因素，但没有一个因素是放之四海而皆准的。
- Free, ad-supported TV (FAST) channels are on the rise, and publishers want to get content where audiences are. In September, the three FAST channels independently measured in the Gauge accounted for 3.2% of total TV.
- The cost of producing a new show doesn’t always pay off. Citadel, for example, had a reported budget of $200 million-$300 million and failed to appear on Nielsen’s top 10 list of most-watched streaming content.
- The summer strikes created a lack of new content this fall. Yellowstone, a Paramount original, has found a new audience on CBS, and the ratings have been strong enough for the network to start running season 2.
- Perspectives about content licensing are changing. While likely a financially motivated move, Warner Bros. Discovery made headlines earlier this year when it licensed a number of HBO titles to Netflix. Incidentally, two of these titles (Band of Brothers, The Pacific) landed on Nielsen’s top 10 list the week of Sept. 18.
In looking at the widening range of content available to U.S. audiences, the large majority is not exclusive to a single channel or source. TV viewers had more than 1.1 million unique video titles2 to choose from as of October 2023, and only 34.7% were exclusive to either a streaming service or a linear channel.
Among the examples of expanded distribution, none stand out like Suits, which recently held the No. 1 spot on Nielsen’s top 10 list for a record 12 consecutive weeks (Ozark previously held the record with 11 weeks at No. 1). During those 12 weeks, viewers watched more than 36.8 billion minutes of the legal dramedy—enough to spark the show’s creator to start developing a follow-up program.
不仅仅是剧本内容的所有者在扩大其内容的覆盖范围。例如，由于今年秋季缺乏新内容，加上橄榄球拥有庞大的粉丝群体，美国橄榄球联盟（NFL）通过在三个不同的电视网播出今年的 "周一橄榄球之夜"（MNF）比赛，扩大了其影响力。
虽然其他两天（周日晚和周四晚）每周只播出一场比赛，但 NFL 在周一会加倍播出：第 2 周和第 3 周在 ABC 和 ESPN 播出双赛，其他周一的比赛将在 ABC、ESPN 和 ESPN2 播出。去年，只有一场双赛，而且只有前三场比赛在 ABC 播出。今年第 1-7 周的总观众人数超过了 1.38 亿，而去年第 1-7 周的观众人数略低于 1.12 亿。
今年 MNF 比赛的收视数据突出表明，在多个地方提供内容能提高收视率，尤其是当并非所有观众都能使用相同的频道和平台时。在泰勒-斯威夫特（Taylor Swift）的帮助下，这一策略还扩大了收视人群的范围。今年前七场周一比赛共吸引了超过 1000 万额外的女性观众。
在过去的几年里，由于可找到内容的地方较少，可花钱购买的选择也较少，因此内容所有者和发行商能够通过单一来源吸引更多受众。
Today, audiences in the U.S. have more than 32,200 linear channels and 89 streaming video sources3 to choose from, and viewers are exploring them all. This reality presents a much different scenario than when audiences spent most of their TV time with aggregated, provider-chosen options within a single environment.
虽然从历史的角度看，收视的分散是独一无二的，但受众测量数据证明，内容跨渠道传播时，到达率和参与度都会提高，传播趋势也是如此。当业界开始展望明年的内容和广告计划时，考虑到这些变化会有所帮助，尤其是在新内容可能有限的一年。
对于出版商来说，寻找新的内容授权机会可以提高现有内容的关注度和收视率。广告商和广告代理公司在考虑未来一年在哪里接触观众时，了解这些新的观众参与模式至关重要，尤其是在他们驾驭快速演变的 FAST 格局时。虽然节目层面的参与凸显了广泛的收视趋势，但广告商和广告代理公司在计划和执行广告购买策略时，应探索特定频道的收视情况，以获得所需的洞察力。
Looking for channel-specific viewership? Check out Nielsen’s 流媒体内容评级 for show-specific TV viewing data.
资料来源
1Acquired titles are those that have been licensed from other content owners after first airing somewhere elsewhere first. For example, audiences can find S.W.A.T., a CBS original, on Hulu, Netflix and Paramount+.
2Gracenote 全球视频数据
3Gracenote Global Video Data; October 2023. Each channel represents a unique source of linear programming, such as ABC and Flicks of Fury, an original channel on Pluto TV. Each streaming video source represents an individual provider, such as Netflix and Disney+.
