People Are Streaming and Watching TV More Than Ever

I work in the commercial advertising industry as a producer. We have all been recently impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak. In the last 30 days it has changed not only our personal daily lives but shifted the way the world is consuming media. This article by Visual Capitalist articulates how media consumption has been impacted and shows how audiences - Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers are spending more time watching and consuming Broadcast TV, Online TV/Streaming, and Online Video amongst other platforms.

We can clearly see that the Gen Z audience between the ages of 16-23 are spending 51% of their time watching online videos. Millennials have increased their Online TV/Streaming viewing to 41% of their time. In contrast Boomers are spending more time watching Broadcast TV at 42%.

How does this impact me as a commercial producer? Well, knowing where our audiences are shifting their focus and consuming media is crucial to understanding how to effectively reach a specific audience and tailor the creative. This impacts not only the media buy of a campaign, but the creative elements. How a campaign is written and developed, actors selected, the setting in which a spot is produced, all these elements change depending on the audience we want to reach. The length in which a spot is produced may also come into question. For example, a 16-year-old may have a shorter attention span watching videos online versus a Millennial or a Boomer streaming or watching broadcast TV.

I foresee that our media consumption habits will shift into the future and I will need to be prepared to help brands navigate the changing of the times and be as effective as possible with their media strategies. Already we are seeing brands like Walmart, Burger King, What-A-Burger, Chick-Fil-A shift their messaging to reflect more of compassionate tone and moving their advertising dollars away from traditional advertising platforms like radio, billboard, and print.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/media-consumption-covid-19/