People are watching YouTube, America’s No. 1 ad-supported streaming service, on connected TVs at higher rates than ever. But what’s behind this shift? And what’s driving the growth?
Tara Walpert Levy, vice president of agency and brand solutions at Google, and Catherine Sullivan, CEO of media buying agency PHD U.S., joined Adweek’s third annual NexTech event to discuss how viewers are redefining television. People are creating shared experiences and achieving deeper connections through streaming more than ever before.
The proliferation of connected TV
The massive shift to connected TV was already happening pre-pandemic, but Covid-19 dramatically accelerated the move. Levy said it’s easy to see why more viewers are leaving pay TV and connecting to streaming.
“People want more personalized content. They want the flexibility and control and interactive nature that’s available in a streaming or digital environment. In many cases, they want it on the big television in the living room,” she said.
The acceleration was so strong during Covid-19 that streaming households eclipsed pay TV households for the first time in 2020. At the forefront of the shift, YouTube TV saw 120 million viewers on connected TVs by the end of last year.
Defining ‘good’ content
For years, marketers have been trying to figure out what constitutes “good” content. According to Sullivan, there’s always been a misconception about what that means. It’s not long form, short form or any certain length that makes good content; it’s what the individual viewer wants to see.
Levy said that Google’s research also supports the power of personalization.
“We found that where once people did think about traditional TV as ‘TV,’ now they really just think in terms of the content that matters to them,” she said. “We found that less than 15% of viewers cared about content looking professionally produced.”
TV gives viewers the chance to be in the driver’s seat when choosing and consuming content, giving them full control of what content they deem valuable.
“Something that is meaningful to each viewer is the heart of what’s redefining TV, and it’s the viewers—not the networks and not the platforms—that get to determine what’s popular and what’s meaningful,” Levy said.
Redefining the future of TV
Although some things may go back to how they were before the pandemic, Sullivan and Levy agreed that TV consumption is not one of them.
“What we saw in this year’s upfront is not going to change moving forward. It wasn’t an aberration; it wasn’t a one-off,” Sullivan said. “I believe it’s what the future of linear looks like. I just don’t think we’re ever going to go back to a world with content inside of programming that is not relevant to that audience.”
Another important part of the equation for marketers is finding causes they support and believe in. Then they put those causes and values at the center of their brand and content to connect with like-minded consumers.
“I also think it’s about making sure in culture, whatever you stand for as a marketer, that you have to stay and really understand that audience and be there consistently to ensure they understand who you are, what that ethos is, and I think that will also continue to accelerate,” Sullivan said.
