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Press Release

Television Viewership Report

CABLE TV VIEWERSHIP SURPASSES 70% SHARE FOR THE FIRST TIME NEW EFFECTV RESEARCH FINDS

Driven by shifting viewership trends due to the pandemic, cable viewing reached 71% share in Q3 2020 for the first time.

Additionally, live cable TV drove daily viewership, accounting for 89% of daily viewership for 2H 2020

New York, March 11, 2021 – Effectv, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable, today released the latest edition of its Television Viewership Report (TVR), a semi-annual research publication that provides actionable insights on how viewers are consuming content today. In examining viewership trends for 2H 2020 versus the same time period last year, one notable trend emerged: Cable TV saw its highest share of time spent, with 71% of that attributed to consumption of cable versus broadcast and premium networks in Q3. Another noteworthy trend was the shift toward live cable TV viewing, in part driven by changing viewership patterns and behaviors.

Key findings include:

 

“TV viewing in the second half of the year was impacted dramatically by the unique circumstances of 2020, and it was particularly interesting to see how live viewing surged as a result of some of those factors,” said James Rothwell, vp, global agency, brand and industry relations at Comcast Advertising, Effectv’s parent company. “Time spent with cable news, in particular, as everyone wanted to stay informed about the latest political, social and health issues, was the most dramatic driver of that increase in live viewing and illustrates the continued importance of TV for advertisers, as well as audience-based tactics to adapt to media consumption trends.”

The data in this edition of the TVR looks at how and where TV audiences are spending their time by aggregating data from more than 17 million Comcast households across 60+ markets. Additionally, the report’s findings are based on 16.3 billion hours of viewing.

Click here to read the full report.

About Effectv
Effectv, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable, helps local, regional and national advertisers use the best of digital with the power of TV to grow their business. It provides multi-screen marketing solutions to make advertising campaigns more effective and easier to execute. Headquartered in New York with offices throughout the country, Effectv has a presence in 60+ markets with nearly 35 million owned and represented subscribers. For more information, visit www.effectv.com.

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Media Contact:
Elaine Wong
929-388-9098
[email protected]