I do my best to wake up every morning with one question, what can I learn today? I typically spend the first hour of every day doing some research on various topics. Clearly, 2 topics that are near and dear to my heart are CTV & Streaming and Advertising.
One thing that I have learned over my 37-year career in advertising, specifically cable broadcast and CTV, is that it is pretty easy to make research say what you wanted to say. I tried to be transparent and not tied to any specific outcome. I approach research with an "is what it is" attitude.
I am asked daily by my clients for the latest research on CTV | Streaming, and basically the entire media Lumascape (digital ecosystem). The single biggest challenge in answering that question is that streaming and CTV are growing so fast there is no one specific research outlet that has timely answers or that match.
I just did a quick search for "percent of US households that subscribe to cable". Try it yourself and you will see there are many different answers. Always look at the date of the research to make sure you are getting the freshest data. Even with the freshest data you will find there are many different answers. I try to look at the most recent data and the most reputable sources and rather than take everything I read as true. I look at the different sources and throw out the high and the low.
Here are two great examples. According to A January 2023 Statista Survey only 40 percent of respondents stated that their household was currently subscribing to a cable. Quite frankly I don't think it's that low. According to Samba Second half 2022, 48% of US households subscribed to cable. That is a big difference. The samba report goes on to break out different demos. The research suggests
65% of Gen Z have no cable
58% of Millennials have no cable
57% of Gen X has no cable
43% of Baby Boomers have no cable
Samba 2H 2022 state of viewership report.
When I am asked I just say according to the largest research companies cable is now in less than 50% of US households. I think if you're looking for an absolute number you're going to be disappointed. I think if you're ready to research and connect the dots you will feel good with your decisions and conclusions.
CTV streaming OTT always getting better for marketers advertisers and viewers.
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