When it Comes to Out Of Home, Venues and Events Matter

Out of home measurement for major events such as the Mueller Report and Tiger Woods’ win on the final day of the Masters Tournament offer insights into what the viewing preferences are for venues such as gyms, offices and bars/restaurants.

Venues matter for time sensitive events. Tunity just released data that shows that in general, peak usage times for viewing are different depending on the venue. Offices and gyms peak from around 8a-11a, while bars/restaurants peak first around 4:30 and again from 8-10p, suggesting that bars peak at the earlier time and restaurants at the later time. “Several key influences to take into consideration,” noted Paul Lindstrom, Head of Research & Analytics, Tunity Analytics, “are location and traffic patterns.”

The differences in venues coupled with specific events can impact viewership and the reasons for paying attention. “Our research points to people specifically visiting bars and restaurants to view programming, especially major events like the Super Bowl or an awards show. On the contrary, the viewing that takes place in gyms and offices is opportunistic and the audience size is less influenced by fluctuations in traffic because the primary reason for being in those locations is not to watch television. Changes in gym viewing reflect more or less people who are already there and choosing to view,” said Lindstrom.

OOH impact on overall viewership levels is often impressive, especially when it involves a big news or sporting event. The William Barr release of the redacted Mueller report on 4/18 garnered a 2,956,300 average total OOH audience on CNN and Fox, according to Tunity data. Tiger Woods winning at the Masters on 4/14 delivered 6,924,040 on CBS and the first day of March Madness on 3/21 delivered an overall 4,119,320 on CBS/TruTV/TBS/TNT. Lindstrom explained that, “When we look at (these major events), we see a correlation between the locations, specific types of content, and the magnitude of lift associated with that content.“

According to Lindstrom, Tunity data “shows how the combination of each network’s share lift combined with the total available OOH audience and choice of viewing is a factor in evaluating the dynamics of the OOH audience for that content on that network.” This is something that Lindstrom believes has never before been documented for OOH viewership. “Location based segments have proven to be an excellent way to profile the audiences,” he asserted.

Sound, or lack of it, plays a pivotal role in measuring the impact of OOH viewing. “The traditional method of measuring OOH viewership calculates a program’s audience based on the presence of audio. However, in most OOH locations TVs are muted or there is too much ambient noise to calculate exactly which show is being viewed,” he said. Because Tunity Analytics measures viewing based on a program’s video feed, “it allows us to pinpoint exactly which show and network a viewer is enjoying. We can then further extrapolate by adding in location data.”

This article first appeared in Cynopsis.