The Building Blocks of TV Experience Data: What Happens If They Topple Over?

Media conglomerates rely on robust and intelligent data to create personalized viewer experiences in an ever-evolving digital landscape, Jamie Field, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Verisk Marketing Solutions, explores the building blocks of TV experience data and how prioritizing consumer identities can stop marketers from making costly mistakes.

Whether you are tuning into the morning news, re-binging your favorite sitcom for the third time, or admiring capitalism at work on the latest episode of the Kardashians, it is no surprise that television viewership has remained steady in the U.S. for decades. The adoption of connected televisions (CTVs) has only amplified the growth of TV entertainment, with consumers enjoying a virtually endless stream of content at their fingertips. 

According to NielsenOpens a new window , the COVID-19 pandemic triggered one billion-hour rise in time spent watching connected TVs and overall media use. Similarly, as the effects of the pandemic ease up, traditional TV usage is normalizing while CTV usage remains well above pre-pandemic levels. With a massive volume of engaged viewers across all devices and platforms, television poses a great opportunity for advertisers to create individualized connections with their audiences. 

Historically, networks could paint a picture of their viewership through traditional audience measurement systems like Nielsen. With the increasingly fragmented media landscape we live in today, collecting this audience data is no simple task. Consumers are jumping from device to device, and it is much harder to achieve accurate targeting and measurement. Networks and advertisers are now tasked with matching identifiers across different touchpoints to a single consumer profile.

The complexities of collecting accurate audience data are further accentuated by the fact that today’s largest media conglomerates own many unique assets. Take Disney, for example — we know they own various networks and studios, from ESPN to Pixar, to Fox Entertainment. Beyond the traditional media landscape, Disney owns theme parks and streaming services like Hulu. While these fall under the same enterprise, there is clearly a stark contrast in the type of audience each asset attracts.

So how do media giants like Disney ensure they give their consumers a seamless experience across all touchpoints? Or, what happens if data discrepancies are discovered that compromise their viewer ecosystem? Here, we will explore the building blocks of TV experience data and how prioritizing consumer identities can stop marketers from making costly mistakes.

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How Has the TV Landscape Evolved?

Ever since televisions became a household staple, advertisers have understood the value of reaching consumers through this medium in an exciting, captivating way. Data has always been key to successful television advertising because of its ability to provide crucial insight into viewer demographics and habits. However, the data points collected by traditional media measurement businesses are often not strong enough to build a comprehensive picture of a conglomerate’s entire audience.

The conventional television advertising marketOpens a new window is dominated by 500 advertisers, who make up 85% of the $75 billion spent each year. When you are investing that kind of money, it is imperative that your ads are being served to the perfect audience. For corporations that require granular targeting for a specific asset, for example, Disney selling ads for ESPN, robust data is required to reach the people that really matter.

Moreover, the widespread adoption of internet-connected TVs and streaming services has greatly impacted the viewership population while propelling television into the digital media world. According to the most recent dataOpens a new window by Statista, 83% of consumers in the United States were using a subscription video-on-demand service in 2022, an increase of nearly 20% over the last five years. Not only are consumers pivoting to streaming services, but they are also streaming content from multiple platforms on various devices.

The convergence of television and the internet has allowed advertisers to access comprehensive and intricate data about TV viewers. In the past, standard demographics like age and gender were fundamental for targeting the perfect audience. Now, age and gender are paired with more valuable information like previous buying habits, geolocation, or content preferences. With more engaged viewers than ever before, it is imperative that advertisers leverage these crucial data points across all platforms.

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Actionable Steps to Combat Bad Data

Since consumer identities are such a paramount aspect of personalizing the viewer experience, any inaccuracies can compromise targeting strategies and lead to costly mistakes.

For example, say an advertiser partners with a data analytics company that over-indexes on young viewers aged 19–29 and under-indexes on middle-aged viewers in the 40–60 age group. The purchase habits, behaviors, and preferences of these groups are quite distinct from one another. An Amazon ad for a 50-year-old man is far different than an Amazon ad for a 25-year-old woman. If you rely on bad data to make decisions on where and when to run your ads, you are burning through money without reaching the right people. 

Prioritizing identity management and identity resolution can strengthen connections with viewers while guiding decisions on how to optimize marketing efforts. Identity management gathers a comprehensive picture of the consumer across websites, digital ads, and other platforms. On the other hand, identity resolution brings together the attributes, interactions, and identity of a single consumer across channels and devices.

These concepts reflect the complexity of today’s average consumer. A Hulu subscriber who streams their favorite show from their tablet may also purchase movie tickets on their phone from Fandango and then later tune into a Saturday night football game on a linear local TV station. Advertisers want to give users the most relevant experience in all those places, a task easier said than done.

In today’s age of prolific multi-platform entertainment, identity-based marketing is no longer a nice-to-have; it is a necessity. Tapping into these technologies empowers networks and advertisers to enhance their first-party datasets, ensuring data accuracy while also adding relevant viewing or shopping behaviors. These additional identifiers, attributes, and insights allow for improved consumer experiences via marketing to robust data-driven audiences with enhanced personalization — a win-win for advertisers and consumers alike.

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