Special Report: What "The Nielsen Total Audience Report" Says About People Of Color TV Viewership And The Future For POC Audiences
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One of the most rapid changes that came to American workers upon the arrival of COVID-19 in the United States was the overnight shift that shut workers out of their offices in order to safeguard public health by flattening the curve of growing cases in hospitals. As more professionals have been working from home than ever before, television viewing has inevitably increased, whether for actual focused consumption or simply for background noise to keep from working in an environment that is too quiet without the general noise and chatter of an office. A recent Nielsen report, titled “The Nielsen Total Audience Report,” illuminated how the shift to work-from-home has influenced television viewing habits throughout the general American populace based on a combination of survey data and its own National TV Panel sample. The comparison of last year’s Nielsen numbers to this year’s, along with the additional insight on how work-from-home situations have influenced consumption patterns, offer a glimpse into what the future holds for the television industry and where people of color fit into today’s television audience.
Scripted Daytime Television Consumption By Genre & Format
Among all work-from-home respondents in the Nielsen study, the data show comedy as one of the top audience choices when it comes to genre and format, coming in second only behind news consumption. Still a dominant choice in scripted content, though not at the same rate as comedy- which is consumed by about 40% of viewers daily - is drama, which approximately 30% of viewers report watching daily. Though the Nielsen survey didn’t gauge the specific reasons for why some types of content are chosen over others, it seems that the television industry, at least for the time being, will need to focus primarily on producing comedic scripted content in order to continue capturing the attention of its audience. Perhaps comedy is popular because it can act as a diversion for today’s issues, or maybe just because it makes good background noise while working- either way, television viewing in the time of the coronavirus clearly favors comedy.
Streaming Minutes By Age
Unsurprisingly, streaming viewership has largely grown over the past year, and while it’s likely part of an inevitable upward trend for this section of the television industry, the pandemic has almost certainly had a hand in this sudden explosion, with over one-fourth of all time spent (in minutes) watching television having been via streaming. Among the bevy of streaming options available today, the Nielsen data reveal Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, Hulu and Amazon as the major players in this domain. What may be more interesting in Nielsen’s findings, however, is the fact that consumption tends to trend older, with adults aged 55-and-up now making up over one-fourth of the overall American streaming audience.
Preferred Daily Television Consumption Methods For Black Americans
Black Americans: When it comes to adult Black American television viewership, two platforms stand above the rest in delivering content to consumers: live television and smartphones (app and web); this has been the case before the pandemic and is even truer now. Combined, Black Americans spend an average of 9 hours and 35 minutes a day consuming television content through these two mediums, compared to an average of 2 hours and 9 minutes per day via time-shifted television, Internet-connected devices, Internet via computer and tablets (app and web). Despite finding slight to moderate differences in how much Black Americans use most of these channels, the only real significant change comes from the increase in how much this demographic consumes television content via smartphone, with viewers averaging almost one extra hour of content consumption via smartphone this year as opposed to last year. Overall, television content has a considerable reach among Black American viewers, with approximately 91% consuming some television content this year, with the average viewer consuming roughly 49 hours and 44 minutes of content each week across all mediums.
Breaking down streaming subscription numbers, Nielsen also found that while a considerable amount of Black Americans have added to their list of streaming subscriptions during the pandemic, with about 27% of respondents reporting an increase in subscription services in the past three months, the majority (69%) have maintained the same number of streaming subscriptions. Though the unsubscribe rate is low (4%), Black Americans were the only demographic that reported a decrease in streaming subscriptions above 2%. Although it’s not necessarily a significant decrease at the present time, it is something that streaming services may want to keep their eyes on- if the unsubscribe rate among Black Americans continues to grow, it would be well worth investigating to see what could be driving them to leave.
Preferred Daily Television Consumption Methods For Asian Americans
Asian Americans: As with Black Americans, live television and viewing on an app or web via smartphone is the way to go for Asian American adults; however, Asian Americans spend much less time consuming television daily, averaging only 5 hours and 46 minutes through these two channels. Though it’s not a significant difference (2 minutes), live viewership has actually decreased since last year. Asian American adults also continue the trend of growing smartphone viewing, though the increase in this demographic is modest, averaging an additional 31 minutes of daily television consumption through this medium. Amongst the other four mediums, television viewership for Asian Americans is even lower, averaging only 3 hours of consumption in time-shifted television, Internet-connected devices, Internet via computer and tablets (app and web). The lower viewership rates among Asian Americans is inevitably reflected in the overall reach of television content, with this demographic posting the lowest average reach rates at 79%, for an average of 22 hours and 38 minutes across all mediums in television consumption per week.
The number of Asian American streaming subscribers has largely held consistent throughout the pandemic, as most (79%) Asian American viewers reported no change in the number of streaming platforms they are subscribed to in the past three months. Although Asian Americans post the lowest television viewership numbers, the Nielsen survey still found that a considerable amount has increased their streaming subscriptions (19%), with very few (2%) reporting a decrease, suggesting that subscription services may want to look into how to better reach an audience that is clearly interested, but may need more to convince them to subscribe.
Preferred Daily Television Consumption Methods For Hispanic Americans
Hispanic Americans: As with Black Americans and Asian Americans, Hispanic American adults show a clear preference for live and smartphone (app and web) television viewing, averaging approximately 6 hours and 40 minutes consuming content each day via these platforms, compared to the 2 hours and 14 minutes spent on the other four (time-shifted television, Internet-connected devices, Internet via computer and tablets (app and web)). Consistent among all three demographics is an increase in mobile viewing, with Hispanic Americans, like Black Americans, averaging almost an additional hour of television consumption via smartphone apps or web this year. Likewise, the average Hispanic American viewer continues in the trend of declining time spent watching live television, though the difference, as with all three demographics, is very slight, with Hispanic Americans consuming approximately 9 minutes less of live television between 2019 and 2020. It’s worth noting that while the television industry posts a healthy reach for Hispanic American viewers at 89%, the weekly average amount of time spent consuming content across all mediums is strikingly low, with this demographic watching about 28 hours and 27 minutes of television each week.
By far the largest growing demographic among all groups in terms of new streaming subscriptions is Hispanic Americans, with 40% reporting that they have added at least one new streaming subscription during the past three months, contrasted with only 2% of Hispanic Americans decreasing the number of streaming services they have subscribed to. While the Nielsen survey doesn’t go into the reasoning behind changes in streaming subscriptions throughout the pandemic, it’s clear that this is the demographic that streaming providers most need to pay attention to in the ever-difficult pursuit of growing and maintaining their subscriber bases.
While some have pointed to a lack of commuters- and therefore, a decline in smartphone viewing- as contributing to the swift demise of Quibi, the Nielsen data across all three demographics clearly point to the opposite, with smartphone viewing showing significant gains in the past year. It’s hard to say if the pandemic in specific has pushed people more towards their smartphones, as the viewership trajectory over the last two years seems like more of an indication that television consumption has been on track to become increasingly mobile-based, regardless of the current situation throughout the globe. Over the past two years, the biggest drivers in the growing mobile trend and in television consumption as a whole have been Black Americans, indicating that the industry needs to focus more on this demographic moving forward. This doesn’t necessarily mean, however, to ignore Hispanic American or Asian American viewers just because they consume less television. Though it’s difficult to reach a conclusion based on the Nielsen data as to why these demographics post lower viewership rates, it’s plausible that these viewers are simply not being served as much, such as with a severe lack in representation. Television content clearly reaches Hispanic American audiences, but it hasn’t been enough to attract their attention the same way it does with Black American viewers. For Asian Americans, the issue seems to be even more complicated, as both the overall reach of and time spent watching television is significantly lower for this group.
The other big takeaway from this study is a confirmation of what many have been saying for a while now in that streaming is king. This insight is especially true for Hispanic American viewers, who have been posting the largest gains in subscription services among all demographics. Moderate gains in the number of subscriptions for Black Americans and Asian Americans generalize this trend in television, making it clear that the television industry needs to continue pushing forward in what was once considered a niche offering.
The coronavirus pandemic has reinforced the importance of television in the entertainment industry and in our everyday lives. Television continues to evolve as both a companion at home and on the go, and as a humorous outlet for people to turn to when they need a break from what’s going on in the world. While viewership from people of color has grown, differences in trends and habits show the need for the television industry to focus its priorities on the different needs of each demographic breakdown if it’s going to sustain its growth in successful areas and stimulate growth where it is most lacking for its diverse audiences.
