A day packed with Living Room Insights
Webinar & Live Event
Over 800 people from around the world tuned in to the 3rd edition of the 'New Life of the Living Room' Webinar, during which RTL AdAlliance presented its latest study findings on total video consumption in Europe and (for the first time) also in the US. Key publishers and partners of RTL AdAlliance were present in person at the live event in London. Following the webinar, they enjoyed further panels, keynotes, and networking opportunities all within the exclusive atmosphere of the new 'Living Room Club' event.
New Study Findings on Video Consumption
TV remains the most popular device for watching video content, but viewers are facing an overwhelming flood of choices. This revelation stemmed from RTL AdAlliance's latest wave of 'The New Life of the Living Room' study, which compared attitudes towards video content on TV sets between Europe and the US:
Over 60% of respondents sometimes struggle to decide due to the abundance of content. To address this, RTL AdAlliance's Marketing Director, Aurélie Brunet de Courssou, emphasizes the importance of improving discoverability, suggesting enhancements to navigation, bundled offerings, and even the ability to transfer profiles across different services.
The survey reveals that both Europeans and Americans engage with linear TV programs on a weekly basis, with 69% of Europeans and 68% of Americans indicating that they watch such programs at least once a week. Notably, in Europe, traditional television programs continue to dominate as the preferred TV content. This is reinforced by the finding that over half of the European respondents stated that they primarily watch linear programs on the screen when they switch on their TVs, underscoring the significance of this medium.
Notably, free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) and ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) services are more prevalent in the US compared to Europe.
The Launch of the Living Room Club
Unlike previous years where findings were solely presented through webinars, this year brought the unveiling of 'The Living Room Club'.
This one-day live event took place at the stylish SOHO hotel in London, exclusively attended by key RTL AdAlliance publishers and partners. Against the backdrop of ongoing fragmentation in the media industry, participants engaged in discussions around simplified offers, synergies & partnerships, quality content & trust as success factors, and measurement solutions.
Highlights and Keynotes
During their introduction, RTL AdAlliance's CEO, Stéphane Coruble, and Deputy CEO, Dr. Oliver Vesper, highlighted the benefits of the organization for publishers and advertisers, followed by explaining the idea of the new exclusive meeting format by Stéphane Coruble, who playfully remarked, "Whatever is talked about in Soho, stays in Soho."
Independent analyst Ben Keen delivered a captivating keynote address entitled "Waking Up to the New Streaming Reality." Keen analysed the current state of the global streaming market, providing valuable insights to the audience. One fascinating insight: the revenue generated by streaming, per hour viewed, is only half of that generated by linear TV. This highlights the continued relevance of the advertising-supported model for streamers and why ad tier models need to work in Europe as well to sustain the economics of streaming platforms.
The audience showed a great deal of interest and engagement in the Freely keynote, which explained their innovative solution of bringing together UK broadcasters on a single platform. This solution addresses important issues like cord-cutting while increasing audience reach and preserving broadcasters' control over monetization.
Adtech Made in Europe: Solutions for Advertisers and Publishers
Publishers (among them M6, NZZ, Rakuten, ITV) and advertisers alike (Asahi, L’Oreal, Secret Escapes) explained their current challenges and solutions, vividly interacting with one other during their respective panels. Among the topics discussed were efforts to simplify and standardize amidst the ongoing fragmentation and aligned measurement solutions, also to identify incremental reach.
When Thomas Servatius, Co-CEO of smartclip, and Dirk von Borstel, Managing Director of Virtual Minds, stepped onto the stage, it quickly became clear that their new collaborative tech solution addresses some of the challenges experienced by both broadcasters and advertisers.
Their holistic video advertising engine unifies the digital and linear ecosystems, offering broadcasters improved monetization, access to new target groups, while providing advertisers with increased efficiency, transparency, and more.
Strengthening Collaboration for Industry Success
During their closing words, Stéphane Coruble and Dr. Oliver Vesper underscored the vital role of knowledge transfer and collaboration, especially with existing but also with potential innovative new partners. Both Coruble and Vesper thanked all speakers and colleagues contributing to the successful debut of the 'Living Room Club’ as a new platform for fostering collaboration and innovation.
