With so much focus in the media industry on the changing TV landscape, it goes without saying that understanding audience behavior is critical. But advertisers, agencies and publishers need to know more than just what audiences are watching to best serve their clients. They need to understand as much about the audience as they can, including how they access TV content.
从高层次来看，电视家庭可以通过三种方式之一获取电视内容：
- 有线电视/直播卫星
- 宽带互联网
- 无线 (OTA) 天线
These access points are not mutually exclusive. A home can have TV sets that access content in different ways. Many homes, for example, access content through cable boxes and complement that content with streaming video. The same is true of homes that access free OTA programming; 60% of OTA households also subscribe to a streaming video service.
为了帮助客户更好地了解电视内容接入类型的分散情况，尼尔森编制了一套信息领域估算，按接入类型对美国电视领域进行了细分。
Given the variety of options, the topic of content access has become increasingly important, particularly with respect to measuring connected TV (CTV)1 usage. CTV usage, which allows audiences to access anything the internet has to offer, had grown to account for more than 38% of total TV usage among adults as of second-quarter 2023. The reason? Choice. According to Gracenote 全球视频数据, 84% of the studio-produced video titles available to U.S. audiences are available on streaming platforms.
The recent ramp-up in CTV adoption has significantly amplified streaming usage over the last year: Streaming has accounted for more than one-third of total TV usage in the U.S. since February 2023, and has accounted for more than 36% since May2. During the week of Nov. 6, 2023, for example, TV audiences watched more than 15.6 billion hours of the top 10 most-streamed original programs, movies and acquired programs available to them3.
While widespread CTV adoption signals a new era in how audiences access content, it has created a misconception that viewers no longer watch linear programming. Importantly, the reality is quite the opposite. In fact, regardless of how a home accesses TV content, more than 90% watch some amount of linear programming.
The variety of content available outside of traditional cable packages is undeniable, and audiences are actively using TV connected devices and smart TVs to access it. Yet while the percentage of homes that access TV content through a broadband internet connection had risen to just under 40%4 in September of 2023, CTV access does not mean audiences are only watching on-demand content. In fact, 82% of BBO only households were watching linear programming in October, which is up 3 percentage points from earlier in the year.
鉴于受众获取电视内容的方式并不相互排斥，有关电视家庭分类的共识已变得复杂，尤其是对于现在通过互联网连接获取内容的家庭而言。然而，这种复杂性在很大程度上与人们为描述与内容访问相关的技术而创造的一系列缩略语和术语有关。这些缩略词和术语使受众测量的前提变得过于复杂，尤其是在 CTV 的使用方面。
从电视总使用率的角度来看，无论接入点如何，媒体规划的关键只在于回答两个问题：
- 谁在观看
- 他们在看什么
不可否认，连接方式的转变正在重塑内容获取方式，但广告商和广告代理公司可以放心的是，他们所依赖的测量数据（与内容来源无关）是准确的，并能代表全面的电视观众。鉴于当今媒体格局的复杂性，尼尔森将继续致力于与业界合作，更好地界定其细微差别。
To learn more audience and programming insights critical for the 2024 Upfronts/NewFronts planning season, read our full guide.
资料来源
1CTV refers to any television that is connected to the internet. The most common use case is to stream video content
2The Gauge
3Nielsen’s weekly Top 10 lists
4This figure includes homes that access programming through a vMVPD. Later this year, homes that access programming from a vMVPD will be classified as cable homes.
