Hulu and Other TV Ratings Info
TV land is busy. COVID-19 has sent people to their TVs in record numbers for linear and nonlinear views. In the U.S., usage of TVs (internet-connected, smart TVs, cable and broadcast) showed the hours spent using TV per week had gone up 81%. This is mostly “living room” viewing. Even with the opening of some states, the viewing of connected TVs and co-viewing with others in the family is part of the new normal ratings equation.
Here are two changes in connected TV and broadcast TV that may change the landscape as well.
Hulu is introducing “transactional ad format” to its connected TV programming. Three new formats are sure to disrupt: Pause Ads (activated when a user hits the pause button); Binge Ads (which target content to a viewer’s streaming behavior); and now Transactional Ad Format (that will direct viewers to a second screen to interact with advertising).
Transactional will allow viewers to access special offers or make a purchase through the use of QR codes and push notifications to take immediate action on a mobile device. One press release says that this will “upend TV as a top-of-the-funnel advertising medium and build a foundation for bottom-of-the funnel, action-oriented campaigns.”
The other news is that Nielsen is finally going to add out-of-home viewership to ratings. In other words, if you watched a TV show away from home, it didn’t count with Nielsen. This underreported viewership for all shows — especially programming that attracts a crowd like the Super Bowl or series finales. FOX added as much of 11 million out-of-home viewers to its reporting of the Super Bowl. CNBC dropped Nielsen years ago because it felt that most of its viewership for the business channel occurred during the day in business offices, airports and on mobile.
All of this means that better targeting and a more accurate ratings system will be available. It also means that when you are sitting at a bar and watching a game, you are now a real viewer — hopefully, those days are coming back.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
