Combined broadcast video on demand (BVOD) ratings from across Ten, Nine, Seven and Foxtel has jumped 43% compared to the same period last year, according to ThinkTV.
Total commercial BVOD minutes from the ThinkTV shareholders neared the three billion mark during February to become the biggest BVOD month since OzTAM Video Player Measurement (VPM) ratings launched in 2016.
ThinkTV says the growth represents a significant boost to traditional “overnight” audience ratings for many high-rating linear TV shows and shows TV is moving to meet its audiences as their viewing habits change.
While BVOD viewing represents a small but fast-growing percentage of overall TV viewing, new data has also revealed a surge in advertiser engagement.
More than 500 new advertisers used BVOD services to reach and target customers in 2018.
“Commercial TV first embraced BVOD almost a decade ago and today BVOD is truly coming of age," ThinkTV CEO Kim Portrate says.
With higher-speed internet connections and smartphones, Portrate says it's little surprise that more and more brands are embracing BVOD.
"Marketers want to reach and engage the attention of their target audience. TV is the engine room that drives most campaigns because it delivers both," she says.
Figures from ThinkTV show that broadcasters are getting viewing uplifts to individual programs of as much as 20% from their BVOD viewing figures.
OzTAM VPM data shows that on average two-thirds of BVOD is watched on-demand, a third is live-streamed, and that the volume of BVOD viewing leapt 63% year-on-year in 2018.
In 2019 broadcasters will make it easy to understand the complete picture of their audience with Total TV ratings, as OzTAM and Nielsen launch Virtual Australia (VOZ), designed to bring together viewing on TV sets and connected devices.
See: Media agency execs weigh in on new TV measurement platform
In the first half of 2019 the TV industry will unveil the first ever Total TV ratings dashboard, to track the performance of shows across all screens for seven, 14 and 28 days after first screening.
TV executives from ThinkTV's four key stakeholders commented on the rapid growth of BVOD and the impact it will have on the broader industry:
10 Interactive director Christian Williams said:
“We’re seeing massive growth in BVOD which is fantastic for the industry. BVOD gives us great flexibility to tell stories beyond the stories in a brand safe, 100% viewable environment. The platform has opened up more opportunities for content makers and advertisers to engage audiences in creative and innovative ways propelling the medium, along with its linear TV counterpart, into a must-have in any advertising schedule.”
Nine director – sales, strategy and product commercialisation Pippa Leary said:
“We are at a point where the digital audience for some shows is adding 20% plus to the overnight audiences and we are setting new growth records in the Australian BVOD space. That audience for some franchises, like Married at First Sight, is 300,000- 400,000. That is a sizable and valuable audience for marketers in its own right. The thing marketers need to be focused on is how TV works with BVOD. We know audiences are watching on TV digital devices and we are working rapidly to ensure that OzTAM can provide marketers a full picture of the total TV viewing agnostically across linear and digital devices.”
Seven network digital sales director James Bayes said:
“VOZ (Virtual Australia) will be a landmark for the Australian TV industry, bringing together TV and online video measurement in a single currency for the first time. VOZ will enable the market to measure and understand cross-screen audience behaviour in a way we’ve never had the chance to do before. This will be a ground-breaking development for advertisers in their ability to target audiences across screens and deliver better outcomes.”
MCN director advanced advertising Nev Hasan said:
“We’re not at all surprised by the growth of BVOD viewing as we have seen a steady increase of users engage with content across multiple devices. Particularly because from a Foxtel point of view, we are creating and promoting multiple touchpoints to access the wealth of premium content we have available on either our set-top box on-demand section, or our Foxtel Go and Now product. For MCN, the opportunity is to continue to create and evolve the advertising opportunities across these platforms to ensure we provide a better viewing, and advertising, experience.”
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