A new survey from LG Ad Solutions examining U.K. consumer thoughts on CTV has found that the medium is near saturation at 94% of the population, with 71% of those consumers using ad-supported apps.
LG Ad Solutions, the connected TV (CTV) and cross-screen media company backed by LG Electronics, conducted the online survey of over 1000 U.K. consumers in October 2022, to determine consumer perceptions and behaviours related to CTV as the medium continues to take off.
Key findings include the continuing dominance of Netflix. When asked which subscription services consumers use, the top three were Netflix (with 86%), Prime Video (64%) and Disney+ (60%).
71% of respondents use ad-supported models of CTV with 68% preferring those models. In fact, 23% of consumers have removed a subscription CTV service from the household in the last 12 months while 12% have added a free ad-supported CTV service during that time.
This shift to ad-supported platforms looks set to continue. 25% are planning on removing a subscription CTV service in the next 12 months while 14% are planning on adding more free ad-supported CTV services during that time. In fact, 68% of consumers express that they will trade off less expensive subscriptions for ad inclusion. Despite this, 13% are watching less linear TV compared to a year ago.
78% of consumers express that they prefer ads relevant to their interests while 71% prefer ads relevant to the content they are watching. When it comes to streaming ads in particular, over half (53%) think streaming ads are more relevant and 36% say they pay more attention to them.
53% of consumers search for content to watch directly from the TV’s native homescreen, while 95% multitask with mobile/laptop when watching TV and 30% always multitask.
Tony Marlow, Global CMO at LG Ads Solutions, said: “There have been two recent ‘big shifts’ in television viewing habits. The first big shift was rapid adoption of streaming content on connected televisions, fueled in-part by stay-at-home guidance at the onset of the pandemic. This first shift was underpinned by subscription-based video content. The second big shift is underway right now. Consumers are drifting away from some of their CTV subscriptions and increasingly preferring free content that is supported by ads. This presents an opportunity to provide better CTV experiences for viewers and opportunities for marketers to connect with their audiences on the biggest screen in the home.”
