The Surprising Sports Trends Revealed By Heather Coghill in Comcast’s TV Viewership Report

When it comes to tracking television viewing, one of the best data sources to use is from Comcast’s internal set top box information which is, according to Senior Director of Audience Insights, Heather Coghill, “a treasure trove of data with access to viewing data from over 17 million households across the Comcast footprint.” 

Twice a year, the company examines their subscribers’ viewing trends in aggregate, compiling them into an extensive TV Viewership Report. The most recent study was just released and contains a wealth of takeaways. There are even a few surprises, especially (spoiler alert) about Sports. Coghill, shared the results with MediaVillage.

TV Viewership Report Takeaways

The report highlights, according to Coghill, “big picture viewing trends.” These big picture trends revealed some surprises. For one, after monitoring the data, she scoffs at those who predict the demise of linear TV. “There is a narrative out in the press that television viewing is dying, and what we’ve seen in the two years we have been tracking this internal viewing data is that viewing has actually increased every quarter year over year for the past eight quarters.”

This continued growth is, “a positive,” she affirmed, “We are seeing TV viewing remaining strong. In Second Quarter specifically, we saw that there was 15 minutes more per household per day being spent with the television compared to Second Quarter last year. That equates to about 17 more hours over the course of the quarter.”

There is great confidence in these findings. Because the data is so granular, “we are not limited by sample size,” she explained, “We can see super-niche viewing that maybe in a panel-type measurement would get cut off because they are not meeting reporting standards.”

Somewhat less surprising, at least to me, is the impact of the pandemic on viewing. As people shelter-in-place, Comcast found that households are spending even more time viewing television – about 32 minutes more in the first half of the year over the same time last year. In fact, total hours of TV consumed in second quarter 2020 reached 8.5 billion hours which was an increase of over 200 million hours year over year.

Breaking it down by daypart, Coghill found that, “Seventy-one percent of all viewing happens outside of prime.” On a market by market level, she reported that, “around the pandemic, we looked at (viewing) regionally and it was interesting. On the west coast where the coronavirus hit earlier, they saw an uptick in viewership earlier than what we saw in the rest of the country and then it leveled out before the viewing for the rest of the country leveled out.”

Even day to day comparisons showed a shift in recent usage. “Cable’s share increased substantially from weekday to weekend from 62% during the weekday to 68% on the weekend,” she stated and added, “That’s significant considering share between the two are typically consistent.” 

Feeling the Absence of Sports

Cable’s dominance in weekend viewing, “is different from what we have seen in the past,” Coghill explained, “We think that, because sports aren’t happening, there is less viewing going to the broadcast networks on the weekends.”

Certainly sports’ absence has been looming large in any discussion of television viewing during the pandemic. Even today, there is uncertainty about which sports are coming back and in what format and schedule. Viewers want their sports programming and that desire is born out in the data and trends. “Sports returned in Summer 2020 with the MLB season openers and the first NHL and NBA restart games averaging a viewership increase of 71% over last year,” she noted.

“Sports fans are hungry for that type of content,” so much so that she discovered, “People who are sports fans, they are not just a sports fan of one sport. Fifty-five percent of heavy viewers of one sport watch three or more sports heavily. If certain sports aren’t happening or are delayed or postponed, it’s not that those people aren’t tuning in. We can find them wherever they are watching.”

To that end, Coghill is able to advise advertisers as to how to reach those fans whose favorite sport might not be available at this time. As part of the study, Comcast data was placed in a viewing matrix that shows what other programming viewers of one sport are watching. Take for example a college football fan. “Who knows what is going to happen with college football – it might not come back. We can tell you where else you can reach those college football viewers,” she said.

Since sports fans are sampling other types of sports while they wait for their favorite to return, there is, according to Coghill, anecdotal evidence to suggest that fan bases of these secondary sports choices might increase. “When the PGA was one of the first sports to resume, a lot of us at work were tuning into golf. Not because we are golf fans but just because we are so hungry for live events,” she explained.

The data also showed an increase in viewing fragmentation partially attributed to the lack of sports tent pole events. But, “viewing has increased,” she stated, “Advertisers need to move beyond being content focused and using content as a proxy to reach audiences. (They should) follow those audiences everywhere they may be going. So maybe it’s more spots across lesser rated networks or dayparts. But if you aggregate all of those together we can still reach that audience.”

Looking Ahead

Are we seeing these new viewing habits holding for the long term? “I think there are some things that will level out,” she admitted, “but I think some shifts are here to stay. The one thing that we’ve seen that is pretty consistent since the pandemic started in March is that there has been an increase in daytime viewing. So as more people are home and kids are home from school more people are available to watch television during the day. Until we resume some sort of normalcy, that will be here to stay,” she concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Free the Data and Optimization Will Follow: Spectrum Reach's AudienceApp

When I first met Marci Cohen, set-top box data was being viewed as having potential, but not yet ready for activation. Since then, Cohen has honed her skills to become one of the best researchers in the field of data in advanced sales applications.

"I was very lucky to get exposure around data: I did a lot of work around the advanced products at Cablevision," she said. We had RFI at that time and dedicated channels and the reporting of those channels. Those opportunities morphed into overseeing the research into attribution of addressable advertising.

Cohen's career has always centered on television research, starting in local at Group W, then to the unwired network, ITN, and then to national syndication at BKN before moving to Cablevision. She's now in the role of vice president, market research and insights for Spectrum Reach, where she not only manages a staff of 44 people researching nearly 100 markets, but is also empowering local researchers to establish the value of local cable television. Additionally, Cohen is working with the rollout of Spectrum Reach's exclusive AudienceApp product for local sales, which she describes as a sales tool that "puts the power of set-top box and other data into the hands of our customers."
"We empower our customers with all of this data so they can find better opportunities for targeting and effective campaign proposals." Spectrum Reach is the first company that connects this capability across all of its markets. "One of our biggest missions," she added, "is to create an application that can take full advantage of audience data across all of the Spectrum markets."

The data and inventory are collected daily and is reported on a rolling-month basis. "It is close to real time," Cohen said. This tool optimizes the marketers' target consumer using all available data, looking at the available inventory at a given time for the campaign parameters, choosing the most effective opportunities, dayparts and networks to build out the campaign for the advertisers' budget, resulting in a proposal in either PowerPoint or an export file into Strata.

"We freed the data," she stated.

A Range of Data-Driven Services
The company has, according to Cohen, "put a huge investment in being able to leverage data for our advertisers' benefit." And with all of its first-party data aggregated and anonymized, maintaining consumer privacy is a core priority. The range of services and portals that Reach's data-set powers include Audience Finder, which Cohen describes as an internal research tool, AudienceApp, and a new do-it-yourself TV advertising platform for small businesses. All are designed to help advertisers feel the full impact of their advertising.

The majority of the way data is being used today from a sales perspective is optimizing on networks and dayparts based on a particular attribute or audience. Spectrum has the set-top-box data appended to multiple third-party datasets, including Epsilon, Experian and Polk.

"We are optimizing based on tuning behavior — what are the best networks and dayparts — but we can also look at the data on a custom basis, like how people are watching television across screens, because we have access to audience data from VOD and the Spectrum app." They are also able to do match-back workaround VOD and advertiser campaigns.

Proving the Results
Cohen and her team have examined AudienceApp campaigns compared to traditional campaigns using age and sex demographics. Cohen found that when advertisers used Audience App, "[they] are increasing impressions, the number of networks double, and there is an amount of efficiency because the CPM goes down."

She conducted two studies to prove this out — one in Q4 and the other in Q1 — with the following results: When comparing a traditional campaign to one created by Audience App, the app resulted in 3.7 more spots, 60 percent more household impressions, double the network counts, and -38 percent drop in CPM.

"Essentially, the app's algorithm maximizes on available inventory and the best network choices for our customers to reach their target audience," she added.

Keeping Up with the Changing Landscape
Cohen's team has recently changed its name to Market Research and Insights from Field Research. "Research's role continues to evolve as data is more readily available to craft the story as to why television is the number one brand-builder and should be looked on as the anchor to all media buys," she noted.

Over the span of her career, Cohen has seen local research evolve. "Some of it has changed dramatically. The tools and the data that are available have become more granular, and we are able to empower our researchers with several different options. Research's job is to build out the story as to why advertisers should be advertising on TV on any screen. It has become more complicated with more competition, so you really have to fight for your share," she concluded. "But with the data we now have available and innovations like AudienceApp, advertising on the undisputed leading media platform — from time-spent each day to its ability to influence online behavior — TV advertising is a better option than ever before. And it's our job to tell that story."

This article first appeared in MediaVillage.
 

605 and Inscape Make the Best Sandwich, According to Ben Tatta of 605

The data analytics company 605 just announced that its dataset will now include Inscape’s viewing data, expanding 605’s footprint to more than 20 million U.S. homes. Inscape is a wholly-owned subsidiary of VIZIO and a leading provider of automatic content recognition (ACR) technologies and cross-screen metrics. Previously known as Cognitive, VIZIO is the largest single-source of opt-in smart TV viewing data available today.

According to the press release, this arrangement places 605 as one of the few companies in the industry to capture and measure set-top-box data along with other sources of TV viewership data, such as over the air (OTA) and basic over-the-top (OTT) viewing data from Inscape’s more than 10.5 million smart TVs. 

Ben Tatta, Co-Founder and President, offered further insights: 

Charlene Weisler:  What metrics are being used?

Ben Tatta: In addition to household-level impression and engagement metrics 605 maintains a library of over 5,000 household attributes (that are deterministically matched to the viewing data) that provide advertiser and programmer clients an unprecedented level of granularity when measuring and analyzing audiences and campaigns.  605 can also match digital data and 1st party CRM data to provide additional dimension on a cross-screen basis...and among unique customer types/segments.  The latter is essential in proving full funnel attribution to clients.  

Weisler: How will this partnership change, improve, enhance 605?

Tatta: With the addition of Inscape, 605 will now maintain one of the largest, matchable data-sets in the U.S.    By combining set-top box data and ACR data 605 will be in a unique position to measure nearly 100% of viewing in a household regardless of TV manufacturer, pay-TV provider or OTT service for more than 20 million homes nationwide.

Weisler: What are your expectations once this partnership is in place for a few months?

Tatta: ACR data and set-top box data are like peanut butter and jelly.  The two datasets complement each other perfectly.  Our hope is that in three months we will have the best PBJ sandwiches available anywhere.  

This article first appeared in Cynopsis

Nielsen’s Take on the Accuracy of Big Data

While many programmers have found that set top box data is immensely useful, Nielsen offers caution. Their take, as per a recent Nielsen NewsWire blog post, is that set top box data alone does not give the full picture of who is watching. They advise that this data should not be used in a vacuum because it undercounts certain demographics – especially young and diverse viewers.

According to Nielsen, “At a time when Hollywood is moving for more on-screen diversity and inclusion in TV programming, the study found, using real data, that this could have implications when it comes to programming decisions.”

Here are some highlights from that post:

1. The difference in delivery systems, especially Over-The-Air, skews return path data.

 Nielsen notes that some Americans don’t have the income to spend on premium entertainment content; others opt for over-the-air (OTA) programming in light of improving digital technology. Widespread technological advancements have fueled a steady growth of broadband-only (BBO) homes as well. The combination of OTA and BBO homes have swelled in the U.S. from 15 million homes in 2014 to nearly 28 million homes in 2018. Considering 41% of the consumers in those 28 million homes are multicultural (either Hispanic, African-American or Asian) and 10% are a younger demographic (18-24), an uncalibrated RPD sample would significantly under-represent these audiences and skew the total audience measurement.

2. Set Top Box Data Undercounts Hispanics and African Americans

Nielsen reports that compared with official U.S. Census estimates and the Nielsen national panel, RPD-capable homes under-represent Hispanics by 33%, Spanish-language dominant Hispanics by 49% and African Americans by 34%.

3. The Implications On An Actual Program Ranking is Stark

When looking at Fox’s Empire, for example, diverse audiences made up 75% of the program’s viewers in December 2018, driving ratings success when using a representative panel. However, using set top box data, these multicultural audiences were undercounted. “The differences,” noted Nielsen, “are not to be discounted. Looking at a rank among 25-54 year old viewers, Empire ranked 16th using Nielsen’s representative panel, but dropped to 38 in RPD-only homes. Conversely, Empire ranked third among OTA homes.”

Data silos continue to be a vexing problem in media. Taking return path data on its own will not give programmers a full picture of who is watching.

This article first appeared in Cynopsis.

Local Measurement Takes a Giant Step Forward. Interview with Nielsen's Kelly Abcarian

With the recent announcement of the addition of Comcast set top box data to Nielsen’s data arsenal, there has been a dramatic expansion of Nielsen’s local measurement capabilities. Kelly Abcarian, SVP, Nielsen Product Leadership, has been on the frontlines of these efforts.  I had the opportunity to sit down with her and ask her the following questions:

Charlene Weisler: When did Nielsen first launch their initiative to add STB data to their local measurement and what prompted that initiative?

Kelly Abcarian: We’ve always believed in the power and strength of big data and set-top box integration has been part of our overall strategy of incorporating large ‘census like’ data into all of our services and products.  We are changing 210 markets of Local TV measurement over the next 12 months by bringing the scale and granularity to our measurement that our clients need as audiences continue to fragment across screens. 

Weisler: What does Comcast add to the measurement potential if previous STB datasets have already been modeled into the measurement? Why add more?

Abcarian: With Comcast’s addition, Nielsen now has the largest set-top box data set of any supplier. We have partnerships with multiple providers to provide us the breadth and depth of data across 210 markets.  For Nielsen, it is not about the number of households, as once you get past a certain high threshold, the value of each additional household is diminished. It is much more about the quality of the data, methodology, and variety of sources; and critical for local is making sure “locality” or true local information is included, not just modeled down from a national view.

Weisler: How granular will all of this data be across all 210 markets but particularly on markets 71+? ​

Abcarian: Advertisers and media owners will have consistent daily electronic measurement for all markets 365 days a year. With consistency in measurement and larger sample sizes, clients can dig deep with custom data segments or geographic areas or go big and look across markets that match the media plan for the advertiser.  

Weisler: Is there a plan to match local measurement capabilities to national - that is, daily overnights for some if not all markets? If so, when? If not, what will be offered, especially to smaller markets.

Abcarian: We will still produce daily data with a one day delay in markets we do today. We will shift to next, next day reporting for any overnight markets with set-top-box data. Former diary markets will receive data monthly and with granularity at the daily quarter-hour level.  Eventually we would like to provide data within 48 hours to all 210 markets but it will require close collaboration with our data partners to be able to provide this to all 210 markets at this time.

Weisler: What is the status of code readers​ in diary markets to measure OTA​? Will STB data be incorporated?

Abcarian: Over-the-air (OTA) homes can account for 10%-65% of a station’s audience for news and sports alone, depending on the network. And simply having a home in every zip code does not mean the ratings are representative or reflective of this growing, important viewing segment.  Remember that OTA is not available with set top box data. Nielsen meters are being rolled out across the 140 markets (15,000 TV audience meters in approximately 7,000 homes) that will be directly targeting OTA homes to provide a projectable measurement source for all OTA viewing occurring in the local markets

The installation of these electronic meters will address viewing gaps and provide the truth-set needed to address the limitations of solely using STB data for audience measurement and also deliver actual persons-level viewing. The meters will be concentrated on specific types of homes, specifically OTA, and will have known demographic and TV viewing information, allowing Nielsen to project audience estimates for over-the-air tuning. 

Weisler: Where do you see local measurement in the next two years? 

Abcarian: Consumers will have new devices, new ways of engaging with content, new behaviors both in and outside of the home that will be important to continue to measure.  As technology evolves and new broadcast standards like ATSC 3.0 become more prominent, new “big data” sources from Smart TVs, connected devices and other devices will enable interactive advertisements, audience-based buying, addressable and many other enhancements. 

Full electronic measurement will be in place across the entire ecosystem in the next 12 months – ensuring continued quality of this data as it evolves from STB tuning behavior to smart TV to Virtual Reality. We will also have the capabilities to understand audience changes in real time with our Nielsen Marketing Cloud across a wide spectrum of marketing execution platforms such as search, social media, email, video, mobile, OTT.  It will analyze real-time streams of anonymous audience data and instantly adapt segments to reflect changes in Consumer media and buying behavior, Movement in the consumer path-to-purchase, Audience composition across millions of consumer attributes (including demo-, geo-, behavior, personality) and Market dynamics (including seasonal & local market demand, competitive actions, advertising).

Two years from now, advertisers will be able to purchase more traditional TV programmatically and their efforts will be supplemented with product purchase data and demos. And, as long as we  remember to keep the consumer at the center and connect media exposure with buying behavior, this industry will continue to grow.  Ultimately, this is what matters most to the advertiser – what combinations of media choices drive optimal sales results.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com
 

Cadent and TiVo Make a Powerful Data Partnership. Interview with Jim Tricarico

In a media environment of increased data opportunities, Cadent’s recent partnership with TiVo to create an enhanced TV targeting solution for advertisers is particularly interesting.

Cadent’s core business, according to CRO Jim Tricarico, is as an unwired network that offers both visibility and verification to advertisers. “Cadent brings network like experience to unwired,” explained Tricarico. He added, “We deliver efficient GRPs across all cable networks – both large and small – and are able to access MSO inventory from over 200 MSOs of all sizes and reach.” Cadent’s MSO partners include the large operators such as Comcast, Cablevision, Charter, Cox, FIOS, UVerse and Dish as well as 190 smaller operators such as Suddenlink and WOW! resulting in an overall US coverage area of over 80%. But overall coverage levels can be deceiving according to Tricarico who said, “It is the smaller MSOs that fill in the rest of the US because we look at coverage on the zone level. For example New York City has 96 zones. So we need to be inside the zones and not just the overall DMA. That is why we have the only pure national footprint. And that allows us to translate into more like a national network, measured by Nielsen and posted using MSA.” Ultimately, Cadent enables advertisers to complement their network buy using their unwired network of inventory for greater cost efficiency, frequency and program targeting.

Now, with Cadent’s new data and sales initiative, advertisers can take advantage of TiVo’s 2.3 million household sample, six other data providers, as well as Experian’s buying and user behavior data to go beyond age and gender. This enables advertisers to reach their specific target niche audiences in an anonymous, privacy-protected manner. “We start with a client’s broad demographic,” said Tricarico, “and then narrow it down to focus on a client’s best prospects. We buy on a general demo and overlay data from TiVo and Experian for more precision to get to a micro dataset. Then we see which networks, across all 200+ cable networks we represent, to find the most appropriate dayparts, days and time periods to reach the micro dataset.” The result is the delivery of two different MSA posts – one on the general demo target and the other as a custom post for the micro dataset.

The response from the industry has been very encouraging, according to Tricarico. “We have three successfully executed campaigns – New Orleans Tourism, 1-800-Flowers and Cabot Financial. In addition, Modi Media is impressed with what we are doing and is partnering with us on high index buying, Other media groups are beginning to come to us too,” he stated.

Jamie Power, Managing Partner at MODI Media, has found success in Cadent’s data targetability. She noted, “Data and technology have changed what is possible in television today, we are now able to target below traditional demography with more precision.  Historically, television is planned using self-reported data and then measured through panel based data.   We are now we are utilizing census level set-top-box data to better target a brand’s customer. Our goal is to optimize television allocations against a brands’ strategic target and identify the best inventory. We are able to show clients that deeper targeting increases their ability to reach their strategic target by as much as 70 to 200 percent.  Better data helps us drive better results for our clients.”

“The core business is still growing,” said Tricarico, who added, “I see this extension growing quickly. I would not be surprised if it will become 20% of our revenue by next year at this time.”

This article first appeared in www.MediaBizBloggers.com