As the TV landscape continues to evolve, so do the choices on offer for both consumers to view, and for brands to connect with them. In constant search of their ultimate viewing experience, consumers view content via a format or at a time that is convenient for them. And herein lies the various opportunities of TV advertising in 2023 – one that presents both a mass audience that you can attract via traditional or linear TV, and on the other hand, the choice of targeting via platforms like BVOD or SVOD to pursue your brand’s intended demographic.
With many TV advertising options available (Linear, BVOD, SVOD and Total TV), it’s difficult to know where to start. Knowing the types of TV advertising options is not enough. Here, we’ll share the ways in which each TV advertising method can work to help you strike the right balance to reach your
LINEAR TV
Why Advertise via Linear TV?
Linear TV advertising is great if you want to market and target a specific audience at a slotted time, associated with a program that aligns with your brand or business. For example, a paint company might run a TV commercial within a home renovation show.
Linear TV ads are bought and measured via an identified demographic, with targeting options including State/City and program specific, with extended opportunities via sponsorships or integration available. Measurement of ads are via reach and frequency, TARPS and total impressions.
Advantages of Linear TV Advertising
Linear TV continues to offer strong long-term brand building benefits to drive and support brand growth, and whilst it is an effective channel on its own, it has also been shown to enhance the cross channel impact and performance of other media channels within an advertisers media mix (Benchmark series, Think TV).
For short term impacts like product and price advertising to drive immediate results, the mass audience reach of Linear TV proves to be useful.
BVOD (BROADCAST VIDEO ON DEMAND)
Why Advertise via BVOD?
Ad breaks run non-skippable video content to capture viewers’ attention and include premium formats beyond typical video durations to further cut through, including premium pause, billboards and premium slate formats.
BVOD advertising is ideal for branding, with lower entry costs than traditional TV. The BVOD platform also provides greater targeting options via first party data, which includes demographic, state, genre, device or specific program alignment.
Advantages of BVOD Advertising
As Australia’s fastest growing media platform (Think TV), BVOD offers reach and scale for advertisers to connect and engage with their audience in a cost effective way, bridging the gap between traditional and digital advertising.
BVOD growth has remained consistent over the past 3 years, with Gen Y and Gen X the largest adopters of this platform. Australians currently watch more than 25 million hours of content every week via BVOD, as more and more viewers embrace the platform (ThinkTV).
SVOD (SUBSCRIPTION VIDEO ON DEMAND)
Why Advertise on SVOD?
Traditionally ad free, some of these streaming services (Netflix, Binge and Kayo) have recently introduced ad supported models in exchange for a free or reduced fee subscription for the viewer. SVOD offers advertisers a strong and content rich platform to build reach, with targeting via genre, demographic and state available across most.
Whilst all generations have adopted SVOD as part of their weekly routine, Gen Y and Gen Z are stronger users of the platform with 2+ subscriptions on average, and as ad supported platforms increase, the benefits to advertisers in reaching this audience does too.
Advantages of SVOD Advertising
Advertising via SVOD provides greater targeting opportunities based on genre, format, geography and other demographic factors like age and gender. SVOD also presents increased consumer habit awareness with smart device technologies like Automatic Content Recognition (ACR).
ACR tech gives an in-depth view of what and how consumers are watching across the entire screen from traditional broadcast TV to streaming and even gaming; meaning advertisers can almost anticipate what viewers might watch next and display ads accordingly.
What’s the future of SVOD advertising?
TOTAL TV
Total TV encompasses viewing across all TV screens and devices, with a combination of Linear TV and BVOD advertising formats used to increase the reach. Total TV provides a more comprehensive picture of total viewership across both the broadcast and digital platform. A system to measure this called VOZ is predicted to become the mainstream evaluation tool for Total TV.
With audiences making the shift to Broadcast Video on Demand (BVOD) and free-to-air TV viewership declining, there is a need to combine Linear with BVOD advertising to achieve a balanced marketing mix.
In Summary
| Type | Linear TV | BVOD (BROADCAST VIDEO ON DEMAND) | SVOD (SUBSCRIPTION VIDEO ON DEMAND) | Total TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What | Traditional or broadcast TV, users watch via Free-to-Air TV networks. | Free catch-up TV that can be viewed at any time, typically on a smart device with internet connection. | AKA streaming services whereby a user pays a fee to access content anytime on a smart device. Content is wide-ranging with many genres available. | Uses a combination of Linear TV and BVOD advertising formats to increase reach. |
| Why | Offers strong long-term brand building, with a mass audience reach, and various targeting options such as State/City and program specific. | Bridges the gap between traditional and digital advertising, with non-skippable formats that are viewed by a growing number of consumers. | Ad-supported SVOD services offer brand building reach across targeting options like genre, format, geography and age. | Reach a greater audience across both linear TV and BVOD for a balanced advertising mix. |
| Examples | Commercial stations (7, 9, Paramount (10) and SBS) & non-commercial ABC. Also includes digital channels such as 7TWO, GO!, SBS Food and 10PEACH. |
Accessible either online or via an app, BVOD examples include 9Now, 10Play, 7+, SBS On Demand and ABC iview. | Netflix, Stan, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Binge and Kayo | Uses a mix of broadcast/ free-to-air TV and digital BVOD ads. For instance, advertising on Channel 7, 7TWO and 7+. |
ACHIEVING THE IDEAL ADVERTISERS MIX
TV Advertising whether Linear, BVOD, SVOD or combined Total TV should not be used alone. For the best results across brand building and reach driving advertising campaigns, TV advertising should be considered alongside radio, outdoor and digital formats to drive mass reach and consideration , following a customer’s journey across these various touchpoints. Tight targeting efforts should also be employed to aim at specific markets and drive strong results.
Using insight and data-driven strategies, our Media team can assist in decoding TV advertising options further and determining the right platform to reach your target demographic and meet your campaign and brand goals.
