The pandemic, and subsequent restrictions to impose its spread, have had a dramatic impact on TV viewing behaviour, according to data from Samsung Ads Australia.
Before lockdowns, Australian audiences were streaming on Samsung TVs for an average of 2 hours 7 minutes a day.
This went grew by one third to 2 hours 50 minutes during lockdown between July to October.
In regions with longer lockdowns, upticks in streaming were more pronounced, with New South Wales devices registering a 35% increase, taking devices to an average of 3 hours and three minutes a day.
Alex Spurzem, general manager, Samsung Ads Australia: “The days of streaming as an emerging behaviour are over; it’s core to how people watch. We are seeing increases in streaming across all states, even post-lockdown.
"What this data tells us is that TV viewership in Australia is not only growing, but increasingly fragmenting. More than half of Samsung TV users are hard to reach on linear TV, because they are either exclusively Streamers or spend very little time watching linear. Now more than ever, it’s very easy to overexpose heavy linear viewers and miss other audiences entirely.
"Advertisers should consider adjusting their strategies to reach viewers where they are which, according to our data, is predominately in streaming environments. But we cannot apply broad strokes to these TV watchers, as their viewing habits are diversifying and evolving constantly. Balancing reach and frequency among Streamers, and linear watchers, is now critical to campaign success.”
Time spent watching linear grew 9% during the lockdown period, when daily average viewing time grew to 1 hour 32 mins.
Linear watching peaked in August, with an average daily viewing time of 1 hour and 39 minutes, likely due to the Olympics.
Almost 8% of Samsung’s total TV universe in Australia are exclusive linear watchers - only interacting with this traditional form of TV viewing.
Heavy linear watchers (who make up one third of all Samsung TV linear watchers) consume three quarters of the total linear viewing time. These Heavy Linear watches are highly loyal and engaged with this format.
Almost a quarter (23%) of Samsung’s total TV universe in Australia are exclusively Streamers. The percentage of audience that are exclusive streamers grew by 22% from July to November 2021, suggesting more people are becoming immersed completely in the streaming world.
But it’s not just heavy streamers that are watching more streamed content than ever. Light streamers saw the greatest increase in streaming viewing hours during the pandemic, when compared to their streaming peers. They watched an additional 4 hours on average per month during this period, equating to a growth of 39%.
When looking at the breakdown of apps or streaming environments people are spending most time on, Samsung Ads data reveals that SVOD (subscription video on demand) is the standout for Australians.
Time spent on SVOD increased 47% during the lockdown period overall, accounting for 1 hour 54 minutes on average per day between June and October this year.
While AVOD (ad-supported video on demand) & BVOD (broadcaster video on demand) saw double digit growth in viewing time during lockdown, 10% and 16% respectively, these new levels have remained relatively stable post-lockdown.
Samsung’s own AVOD service, Samsung TV Plus, saw a growth of 25% in viewing time between pre- and post-lockdown, equating to 37 extra minutes per monthly session time.
Overall viewership increased again from October to November with 1.2 million viewing hours. This is the highest monthly viewership since the launch of TV Plus in Australia in November 2020.
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