Comcast Advertising Finds That in Light of Growing Focus on Brand Safety and Transparency, Advertisers are Flocking to Premium Video Environments

Report shows that consumers are 58% more likely to recall an ad on professionally produced programming than on user-generated content

Despite economic uncertainty, 94% of advertisers expect to maintain or increase spending in premium streaming channels in the next 12 months

Comcast Advertising announced the release of its annual Comcast Advertising Report, revealing data-based insights into how viewers are viewing, buyers are buying, and sellers are selling multiscreen TV advertising today. The study provides comprehensive insights on the newest engagement and consumption trends across streaming and linear TV advertising and provides actionable recommendations for the modern advertiser.

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“As this transformation accelerates, the value of trusted, transparent and engaging viewing environments has never been more important. The Comcast Advertising Report provides a unique and layered perspective into these environments and how buyers, sellers and viewers are navigating today’s complex media landscape.”

The Comcast Advertising Report is based on an in-depth analysis of billions of impressions from Comcast Cable’s ad sales division, Effectv, and from its ad technology platform, FreeWheel, as well as commissioned research into viewing and buying habits from research partners.

According to the report, despite economic uncertainty, 94% of advertisers anticipate maintaining or increasing their spending on premium streaming in the next 12 months (40% plan to increase their spend.) The findings demonstrate a significant preference among advertisers for premium, professionally produced video content, where, the report finds, viewers are 58% more likely to remember an ad as compared to within user-generated video.

“The industry continues to transform at break-neck speed toward a more data-driven, automated approach to buying and selling advertising,” said James Rooke, President, Comcast Advertising. “As this transformation accelerates, the value of trusted, transparent and engaging viewing environments has never been more important. The Comcast Advertising Report provides a unique and layered perspective into these environments and how buyers, sellers and viewers are navigating today’s complex media landscape.”

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Key findings from the report include:

• Traditional TV is still a core strategy in media plans, with 80% of advertisers planning to maintain or increase their spend on traditional TV in the coming year.
• Across both TV and premium streaming, the “big screen” TV is still the preferred viewing spot for most consumers, accounting for 82% of ad views.
• As free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) matures as a free alternative to linear TV, viewers are engaging with content in the same way they do with AVOD, and seeing the content as equally premium.
• Both buyers and sellers are embracing programmatic as a way to unlock efficiencies in TV advertising. As a result, premium programmatic ad views have increased 12% compared to a year ago.
• The share of live sports impressions transacted programmatically has increased 38% so far in 2023 compared to 2022, as sports programming moves to streaming and publishers turn to dynamic ad insertion and private marketplaces to capture increased revenue.

The report uncovers that buyers continue to face challenges in obtaining incremental reach, citing cost and frequency control as the biggest obstacles. The study analyzed billions of impressions to provide the following recommendations pertaining to maximizing reach and connection:

• To get the most exposure, TV advertisers should allocate 20-30% of premium video budget towards streaming and the rest to traditional TV.
• To maximize reach and impact against both in-market and future customers, advertisers should allocate 30% of impressions to highly targeted, addressable strategies and the remaining to broader, data-driven TV and streaming, while also spreading investment across networks, dayparts, and over months.
• Advertisers should capitalize on the big screen, where unaided recall is 2.2x higher and purchase intent 1.3x higher as compared to the same ad in a mobile digital in-stream environment.

“In the face of unprecedented change in the way consumers are viewing premium video content, buyers and sellers alike are looking for tangible metrics on what works best within this new TV environment,” said Travis Flood, Executive Director of Insights, Comcast Advertising. “The goal of this report is to provide actionable advice on using all the tools and channels now available for advertisers to maximize audience reach and drive strong viewer connections. Fortunately, Comcast’s role in video distribution, media and ad tech affords us the purview to deliver upon this ambitious objective.”

The report concludes with several industry predictions for the year to come. Among the predictions is that linear will increasingly behave more like digital, that more streaming platforms will offer bundled subscription plans, collaboration between companies will further drive innovation, contextual targeting will continue to become more sophisticated, and advertising sustainability will be an important focus for U.S. advertisers and publishers.

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