Streaming shift exposes flaws in traditional TV ad strategies: Samba TV

A new report from TV analytics firm Samba TV reveals that while top advertisers are spending more on TV, their money is largely being wasted bombarding a small group of the same people, while completely missing a massive, untapped audience in the shift to streaming.

• An empty echo chamber: The imbalance is stark: the top half of TV households get hit with an average of 150 ads a day, soaking up 94% of all ad impressions. In stark contrast, the other half of the country, a huge and largely ignored audience, saw an average of just nine ads each day.
• Changing the channel: The spending is also out of sync with viewing habits. While linear TV viewership inched up just 1%, viewing on connected TV (CTV) platforms surged by nearly 50%. The old playbook is also failing to reach younger and more diverse demographics, with media buys still heavily skewed toward older audiences.
• A tale of two strategies: The disconnect is forcing a strategic split among major brands. The divide is clear in the fast-food space, where Starbucks boosted TV ad impressions by nearly 90% while Dunkin’ slashed its spending by more than 60% to focus on social and digital promotions.

Simply spending more on TV is no longer a viable strategy. As viewers continue to flock to streaming, advertisers who fail to adjust their targeting will be paying more to talk to fewer people.

• Also on our radar: Meanwhile, on the content side of streaming, Adam Sandler's Happy Gilmore 2 on Netflix recently topped Samba TV's weekly viewership charts. The report also noted that more ad spend doesn't always equal better perception, highlighting that brands like Progressive and Domino’s earned high marks by successfully pairing high visibility with positive social sentiment.