Premion’s Tom Cox On How Local Broadcasters Are Embracing the Shift To Streaming

“In the US, adults are spending nearly five hours a day watching TV and almost 40% of that is through streaming nowadays*. So, broadcasters have really jumped on board with the streaming trend out of necessity,” notes Tom Cox, President of Premion. “They’ve found different ways to adapt their content and business models to fit the streaming world.” 

ALAN WOLK (AW):  How are local broadcasters currently embracing streaming and what does that look like in practice?

TOM COX (TC): Local broadcasters are developing new ad solutions and streaming products to address the streaming shift and they are uniquely positioned to deliver local demand as they have the established, in-market local sales forces and strong advertiser relationships. This gives them a significant edge in capturing the shifting ad dollars towards streaming.

As local broadcasters continue to invest in their convergent linear + streaming selling capabilities, they can compete more effectively against cable, which is being continually impacted by cord-cutting. Today, nearly 40% of US households can only be reached through streaming TV**. So, advertisers need to incorporate streaming into their advertising mix as part of a complete TV strategy.

Additionally, these streaming advertising solutions are not constrained by traditional linear limitations, such as ratings.

Notably, some local broadcasters are investing more in distributing highly valued news content on streaming platforms, including licensing their content on other platforms.

Read more on TVREV here.