‘Platform Surfing’ Viewer Trend Spotted by Samsung Ads

While the number of consumers watching streaming video has grown to 74%, 44% of viewers are switching back and forth from linear to streaming, a phenomenon Samsung Ads has dubbed “Platform Surfing.”

Samsung Ads said that it found that 45% of all video viewing time is now spent with streamed content and that 30% of all consumers get their video exclusively via streaming.

But 44% of viewers are Platform Surfing as they look for something to watch. And people still spend 20% more time watching linear TV than streaming—although streaming is growing fast.

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Of importance to advertisers is that 40% of all streaming time is spent on AVOD, making them available to see commercial messages.

Samsung Ads unveiled its insights during a breakfast meeting Tuesday.

It pointed to a case study in which video campaigns leveraging linear show strong reach and conversions among heavy linear viewers—but are severely challenged at reaching the light linear viewers. The same case study indicates that CTV helps advertisers close the gap in conversions among light linear viewers.

The notion of Platform Surfing could be important for media buyers looking for strategies to reach viewers spending some of their time with linear and the rest streaming.

Samsung Ads said that marketers need to:

  • Understand viewership and who saw what on what platform and how often
  • Understand the how their KPIs are driven by viewership on different platforms
  • Recognize the potential of the “light viewer”
  • Find viewers across platforms
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.