In today’s increasingly complex TV landscape, understanding viewer behavior is critical for advertisers looking to maximize both reach and impact. Samba TV's State of Viewership Report for the second half of 2024 reveals significant shifts in viewing patterns and advertising effectiveness across both linear and streaming platforms.

Our analysis of over 65 billion hours of TV viewership in the U.S., U.K., and Australia reveals a media ecosystem in transition, with growth across both streaming and linear channels. Read on for five key takeaways and download the report for a deeper analysis. 

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1. Streaming surges while linear rebounds

People were glued to their TVs in the second half of 2024. Streaming viewership in the U.S. surged 56%, fueled by must-watch live streaming sports, including the Olympics on Peacock, NFL on Prime Video and Netflix, as well as the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight—along with strong demand for crime dramas, docuseries, and a resurgence of comedy. Linear hours viewed also spiked 8% year-over-year, a trend that was mirrored in the U.K. and Australia, with each market hungry for new content. 

Key Action: As viewing habits fragment across platforms, use deduplicated omniscreen measurement to optimize campaign reach and frequency across the entire TV ecosystem. Make sure to follow the data as audience behavior changes, shifting budget based on viewership trends.

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2. Live sports on streaming are changing the game

Live sports on streaming now compete with traditional TV, blending scale with digital targeting, while reaching a younger, more diverse audience. The Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight proved streaming can host major TV events, with 9.3M U.S. households and the event driving 1.4M sign-ups for Netflix. 

Similarly, Amazon Prime Video's Thursday Night Football coverage saw a 51% year-over-year growth in 2024, validating both Amazon's investment in sports rights and the NFL's digital distribution strategy. These streaming sports broadcasts are particularly effective at reaching valuable audience segments, with households in the $150k-$200k income range over-indexing by 8% on TNF viewership.

Key Action: Across markets, live sports will continue to migrate to streaming platforms. Incorporate streaming sports into your media mix to reach younger, digitally savvy, and high-income viewers who are increasingly difficult to engage through traditional linear broadcasts. This presents a strategic opportunity to connect with premium audiences who may be lighter linear TV viewers, such as Gen Z.

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3. The ad disparity problem remains persistent 

Our findings highlight a significant imbalance in TV ad distribution: 91% of TV ad impressions reach just half of U.S. households. The top half of TV viewers see 149 ads per day, while the bottom half see just 10. This disparity rang true across markets, with 88% and 90% of ads reaching the top half of households in the U.K. and Australia, respectively. 

What’s more, the households seeing just a few ads per day are more likely to be valuable high-income earners, with households in the $200k+ income bracket seeing 15 fewer ads per day than lower income households within the U.S..

Key Action: Use frequency capping and measure true reach and frequency of campaigns to avoid ad fatigue and ensure balanced reach. It’s essential to use best-in-class data for this, as advertisers investing in first-party data (via CRM, apps, clean rooms) gain precision and efficiency.

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‍4. Turn attention into intention

TV advertising drives attention, but the ultimate goal is to drive purchase intent. By analyzing billions of ad impressions alongside semantic analysis of web conversations, our report reveals fascinating insights into the relationship between ad exposure and consumer sentiment.

During the 2024 holiday season, Macy's delivered the highest number of TV ad impressions of any retailer (2.8 billion), but generated mixed sentiment (7% positive, 4% negative). Walmart, however, achieved the highest positive sentiment (11%) despite lower overall impressions (2.1 billion).

Key Action: Monitor both ad exposure metrics and corresponding brand conversations to understand the full consumer journey. This holistic approach helps quantify whether your TV campaign is generating not just views, but positive intent that leads to conversions.

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5. Outcomes measurement can prove ROI

In today’s landscape of audience fragmentation and with viewers canceling subscriptions at record rates, the need for streaming platforms to measure and prove ROI is at an all-time high. Outcomes measurement reveals that audiences exposed to ads for top streaming programs are up to 7x more likely to watch the program than those not exposed to ads for that program, underscoring the importance of advertising in drawing audiences. 

There is also a clear halo effect when viewers are exposed to ads for streaming content, where they are inspired to check out other programming available on the platform. For example, 30.2% of those exposed to The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power ads watched additional Prime shows as well. 

Key Action: For entertainment advertisers, data demonstrates how strategic content promotion creates a cycle of engagement that extends beyond the advertised show. Implement robust outcomes measurement to quantify this halo effect and corresponding viewership rates, and optimize promotional strategies to maximize both viewership and broader platform exploration. This will ultimately reduce churn and increase subscriber lifetime value.

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As the TV landscape continues to evolve, advertisers must be increasingly agile and data-driven in their approach. The fusion of AI and contextual targeting will be a game-changer, enabling brands to deliver personalization at scale without sacrificing privacy standards.

The future of TV isn't just about tracking where audiences watch—it's about connecting data to decisions that influence the message, the medium, and the moment. By leveraging these insights, advertisers can develop more effective strategies that maximize both reach and impact across today's complex TV ecosystem.

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