Five Winning Strategies from 2024’s Top Multiscreen TV Campaigns
With so much competition and fragmentation in today’s media landscape, it’s easy for advertisers to get lost in the clutter of countless publishers, platforms, and devices competing for consumer attention – and it can be difficult for them to decide what strategies actually work.
By analyzing 40,000 ad campaigns across traditional TV and streaming, Effectv identified the five strategies that set the top 1,000 highest-reaching multiscreen campaigns apart in 2024:
1. Diversify Across Unique Publisher and Device Combinations
The highest-reaching campaigns didn’t rely on a single platform – they strategically spanned multiple publishers and device types. In fact, 94% of the top-performing campaigns delivered across more endpoints (i.e., unique publisher and device combinations).1 This broad distribution ensured they reached audiences wherever and whenever they were watching their favorite content.
2. Leverage FAST’s Growing Popularity
FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) has surged in adoption, offering a lean-back, TV-like experience with premium content, and advertisers are taking note: 72% of top campaigns incorporated FAST into their strategy in 2024.1 With nearly a third of the US population projected to be using FAST by 2027 (114.5 million viewers), this platform presents a powerful opportunity for scaled reach, audience targeting, and cost efficiency (eMarketer).
3. Capitalize on the Power of Live Sports
Nothing commands attention like live sports. Sports programming continues to drive unparalleled engagement, with 93% of viewers watching sports live2 – a contrast to the on-demand nature of most streaming content (Nielsen). Among these top 1,000 multiscreen campaigns:
- 98% included sports programming, helping them reach highly engaged audiences.1
- Of the households reached by sports, 53% were incremental to those reached by other genres – a crucial boost for advertisers looking to expand their footprint.3
4. Integrate News to Stay Relevant
In an era of constant information, news remains a staple of daily media consumption. Among the highest-performing campaigns, 97% included news programming,1 aligning their brand messages with trusted, highly engaging content. Whether on the biggest screen in the house, the TV in the local gym, or on mobile devices during commutes, news programming offers consistent, wide-reaching opportunities for advertisers.
And contrary to concerns some brands have surrounding brand safety in news, recent studies reveal that advertising adjacent to news content can actually enhance brand safety and efficacy. Research from Stagwell in May 2024 reveals that ads placed next to news pieces covering politics, inflation, and crime perform as effectively as those placed next to business, entertainment, and sports stories. This data encourages advertisers to reconsider their strategies and embrace news in a way they may have been reluctant to before – leveraging the unique opportunities that news platforms can offer.
5. Maintain Consistency for Maximum Impact
As consumers engage with content across multiple devices and dayparts, consistency is key. Seventy-four percent of these 1,000 top-performing campaigns maintained a sustained advertising presence throughout the month, ensuring their messages reached audiences at different touchpoints – from morning news on TV, to streaming on mobile devices while running errands, to evening entertainment with family.
In today’s complex ecosystem, a balanced approach – leveraging traditional TV, streaming, and strategic ad placement – delivers the strongest results. By applying these insights, advertisers can cut through the noise and drive meaningful impact in 2025.
Sourcing:
1. Comcast Aggregated Viewership Data combined with Ad Exposure Data from TV + Effectv Streaming campaigns (2H ‘24). Filtered to the 1,000 highest reaching campaigns.
2. Nielsen NPOWER Rating Analysis Program Report. Live. Vs. Live + 7. January – December 2024. Program Type: Sports Events across cable, broadcast & live streaming.
3. Comcast Internal Analysis of Sports Multiscreen Campaigns across all DMAs. January – December 2024.
Posted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership self-publishing platform.
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Annie Hagerty
Annie Hagerty, Research & Insights Manager at Comcast Advertising. In this role, she leverages her passion for data and creativity by analyzing data to construct powerful stories that speak to the evolving video landscape. Annie’s work empowers bot…
