Connected TV viewership rises in key European markets

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SpotX survey reports 50% reach in CTV viewership in five biggest markets
Median age of CTV viewership is 43
56% of CTV viewers say it is primary way they want television

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Connected TV: 56% of viewers say it is primary way they want television

Connected TV viewership has grown to reach 50% of households in Europe’s five biggest markets, according to a new report from video advertising platform SpotX.

Approximately 40% of all internet-enabled and TV households now own a smart TV in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. When streaming devices and gaming consoles are added, this equates to a 50% reach in CTV viewership – representing 61.5 million households.

Of these, the SpotX survey found that 45% of internet-enabled and TV households watch CTV on a regular basis.

Conducted by research firm Statista, the report found that, contrary to popular belief, Generation X represents the largest generational segment, representing 43% of all CTV viewers. This is more than Generation Z and millennials, which represent a combined 32%.

The median age of CTV viewership across Europe’s big five markets is 43.

Half of all CTV viewers watch on a daily basis. For many CTV viewers (56%), it is the primary way they watch television. Spanish viewers watch most regularly, with 65% of viewers tuning in daily. The majority of CTV viewers in the UK (60%) use CTV as their primary way of watching television.

Saturday is the most popular streaming day and Saturday evening is when streaming is at its highest across all markets, according to the report.

Read more: Giving a voice to TV

Millennials are the most likely to spend the most amount of time streaming CTV content – especially in the UK and Spain, where three-quarters of their time spent watching television is through CTV.

Flexibility and variety are cited as the top reasons people watch CTV. Cost, on the other hand, is not mentioned a significant consideration, with only 6% of European respondents ranking it as the most important reason that they stream.

The majority of CTV viewers (69%) said they watch ad-supported content and more than half (58%) said that they prefer to watch free ad-supported programming versus paying for an ad-free experience. Only 22% of respondents said that seeing ads within programming bothers them.

Across all the major European markets, households owned an average of one to two

subscriptions. The report concluded that CTV viewers are highly unlikely to increase their paid subscriptions despite viewing hours trending upwards - 3 in 4 respondents say that they do not plan to change the number of subscription services they pay for or how much they spent on subscription services in the next 12 months.

Commenting on the findings Léon Siotis, president EMEA at SpotX said: “Growth in CTV has accelerated in recent years, both in terms of adoption and viewership, driven primarily by consumer demand and the entrance of new streaming services into the markets. With 50% reach in CTV viewership representing 61.5 million households across Europe’s biggest markets, advertisers are increasingly recognising its power to efficiently and accurately reach target audiences at scale.”