- On average around 1.5 people sit in front of the TV set: advertising on the television structurally reaches more people than a single household contact, a systematically underestimated reach advantage.
- 37% of all television usage in Germany happens in company: co-viewing is not a special case but the normal TV experience, and that applies to linear TV as well as Connected TV alike (Media Perspektiven / ZDF media research 2022).
- Only one contact is billed: although ad impressions on the TV screen in fact reach several people at the same time, only one contact per delivered impression is invoiced, a structural advantage for advertisers.
- On CTV, co-viewing is especially widespread: in 52% of all streaming sessions on the connected TV set, several people watch at the same time, more than on any other digital device (TVision Insights 2024).
The living room has always been a shared space
Television is the mass medium that was designed as a shared experience from the very beginning. While smartphone, tablet and laptop are geared towards individual use, the television stands at the center of the living room.
One contact, several viewers
When an advertiser runs a campaign on Connected TV, one ad contact is billed per delivered impression, one household, one device, one counter. The reality in the living room, however, looks different: the same impression is seen on average by around 1.5 people. In households with children or in shared-flat situations, it is often two or more people at the same time.
That means: the effective cost per mille (CPM) on the TV screen is structurally cheaper for advertisers than shown, because the actual reach per paid contact is systematically above the billed value. A CPM of €20 corresponds, at a co-viewing factor of 1.5, to a real price of only about €13 per thousand people actually reached.
The smartphone, still the biggest competitor for advertising budgets, simply does not offer this effect. A mobile ad reaches exactly one person.
What this means for advertisers
Co-viewing is a structural quality advantage of the TV screen. Anyone who assesses gross reach and net CPM realistically cannot avoid classifying Connected TV as one of the most efficient advertising environments in the digital mix.
Combined with the already known quality features of CTV, high viewability, sound on, completion rates of over 90%, the result is a medium that reaches more people than it bills, in an attention-grabbing environment, on the largest screen in the household.