For the first time in history, cable TV is no longer the Number 1 medium people turn to in their living rooms. According to a Nielsen Study published this August, cable’s long reign has ended with the rise of streaming TV.

What is streaming TV?

Streaming TV, also known as Connected TV (CTV), refers to content consumed on television screens that connect to the internet. Viewers consume streaming TV on apps like Netflix, HBO Max, Sling, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu through smart TVs, Rokus, or Apple TVs.

Why is this a big deal?

Unlike cable TV, advertising on streaming TV is completely targetable, thanks to its integration with the online advertising ecosystem. So now, you can use streaming TV to target actual individual ad viewers (rather than the “spray and pray” approach of cable). As a result, you can completely control who sees your ads instead of hoping your supporters happen to have the TV on the right channel.

For Example: If you are advertising on a streaming platform, a Liberal and their Swing Voting next door neighbor are both watching “The Office,” then you could ensure that the persuadable swing voter is the one seeing your ad. Thus, ensuring you’re targeting the right viewer and saving money since you have a more efficient audience.

How can we take advantage?

While streaming TV is 34.8% of TV consumption, it represents a mere 10.2% of political TV ad spend. This disparity is massive and a prime opportunity to take advantage. Legacy advertising strategies focus on broadcast & cable TV, which will fail their shrinking audiences. 

Narrowing the gap between streaming and broadcast/cable spending should be a priority for campaign advertisers. It will give an edge in reaching an unexpectedly large audience by following the data. 

Bottom line: Your media plan allocations should match consumption habits. Technology is changing, how voters consume media is changing, and our media plans must change too.