How a Leading Cable Network Drove Tune-In For Their Holiday Movies With Simulmedia's TV+

With the holiday season fast approaching, a leading cable network was eager to promote its premiere of several seasonal movies airing on linear TV. How could the network reach the right viewers and drive tune-in?

Simulmedia to Synthesize Comscore’s Custom Viewership Segments into TV+® Platform to Drive Tune-in Promotion Everywhere Audiences May Be Watching

NEW YORK – By the end of the year, hundreds of new and returning TV series, along with a myriad of original films, live events and specials, will premiere across more channels and platforms than ever before available. These new programs will span broadcast, cable, satellite and AVOD, SVOD and FAST streaming services. As a result, entertainment marketers face unprecedented hurdles in finding the right viewers across this fragmented landscape to drive to their programming.

, the leader in truly cross-channel TV advertising, today announced a partnership with 

, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a trusted partner for planning, transacting and evaluating media across platforms, to integrate Comscore’s TV viewership audiences into Simulmedia’s unique 

This partnership will enable entertainment marketers to reach viewership-based audiences no matter where they’re watching by using TV+® to find and target Comscore viewership audiences across streaming TV programs with greater cost-efficiency and reduced duplication.

“For the first time ever, entertainment marketers can now run promotional paid media campaigns across the entire television footprint with the confidence that they'll reach audiences most interested in tuning in to their new shows," said Lori O’Connor, Vice President of Sales, West Coast for Simulmedia.

Consumers’ viewership preferences are crucial to driving successful tune-in promotion, so incorporating Comscore’s high-value custom audience segments based on that behavior into TV+® will allow entertainment marketers to target and activate viewers across both data-driven linear and streaming TV consistently and cost-effectively without wasteful duplication.

“We’re thrilled that Simulmedia has chosen to leverage Comscore’s viewership audiences in an innovative way that will ensure more entertainment marketers are driving viewers to both their new programs and returning favorites,” said Rachel Gantz, GM Activation and Advertising Solutions at Comscore. “As choices exponentially increase for TV consumers, it is critical that entertainment marketers have access to accurate audience data to ensure they get their message in front of the right audience.”

By utilizing TV+®’s patented forecasting technology, direct access to over 250 premium inventory partners and automated planning, buying, activation and measurement processes –  in combination with Comscore’s custom viewership-based targeting capabilities and the billions of data points from dozens of sources that Simulmedia’s platform ingests and synthesizes daily – entertainment marketers can execute tune-in campaigns in a seamless, unified manner.

It’s an approach that accounts for the complicated viewer journey through today’s scattered omnichannel landscape in which consumers routinely switch their attention not only from network to network, but from linear to streaming and then back again on a regular, daily basis.



Simulmedia is the leader in truly cross-channel TV advertising. With its TV+® platform, the company delivers unparalleled reach, measurement, and results wherever audiences watch or stream. Founded In 2008, Simulmedia pioneered a data-first, digital approach to TV ad placement and optimization that changed TV advertising forever. With TV+®, Simulmedia helps advertisers and agencies quickly and effectively reach viewers scattered across both linear and streaming TV at guaranteed scale without wasteful duplication. Simulmedia has planned and executed successful TV campaigns for hundreds of brands, including Experian, Warner Bros. Discovery, Zelle, Disney, 1-800-FLOWERS, Monster, Electrolux, Rover, Nordstrom, King’s Hawaiian, and many more. In addition, Simulmedia allows brands to extend their reach and connect with elusive younger audiences via PlayerWON®, the first in-game video advertising platform for free-to-play PC and console titles. For more information, visit 

Simulmedia is leveraging Comscore’s custom viewership segments to drive tune-in promotion everywhere audiences may be watching or streaming.

Simulmedia Partners With Comscore to Further Enable Entertainment Marketers to Reach Target Viewers Across Linear TV & Streaming

Despite a slowdown in TV production caused by the effects of the pandemic, the number of original scripted series on U.S. television in 2020 still totaled a whopping 493, while the number in 2021 reached a record-breaking 559. At the same time, Nielsen reported that live plus time-shifted TV reached 80% of adults each week, with those viewers tuning in on average for over 30 hours weekly. Meanwhile, Hollywood movie studio production is returning to pre-pandemic levels with both theatrical-exclusive and day-and-date releases steadily rolling out.

So, with more shows available to watch than ever, appetites for televised programming undiminished, tentpole movies slated for premiere dates stretching into 2024, how can TV networks, streaming services, and movie distributors drive awareness, tune-in, and box office in such a hyper-fragmented landscape?

In this guide, we reveal how entertainment marketers can neutralize the risks of low campaign reach and excessive frequency in order to find your target audience whenever and wherever they’re watching.

How to find more of your target audience in a heavily fragmented TV universe

A unique approach to increasing early awareness before your first episode airs

How to make series premieres and returning shows a hit out of the gate

How to build up continuity throughout the season

Tune-in best practices we’ve learned over the years

How to drive conversions like streaming subscriptions and site visits through linear TV campaigns

How movie studios can reach the right audiences at the right time to drive box office

How We Drive Viewership for Entertainment Marketers: Our Playbook For Tune-In and Theatrical Campaigns

Driving Awareness and App Activity for Streaming Crime Series

Reaching Custom Target Audience for Original Docuseries Debut

A streaming platform needed to drive targeted awareness for the premiere of its new true crime docuseries.

Secondarily, the client’s goal was to capture app activity, through 

, to help identify and report on key outcomes such as installs, video starts and payment completions that could be attributed to national TV.

Despite a slowdown in TV production caused by the effects of the pandemic, the number of 

 on U.S. television in 2020 still totaled a whopping 493, with reality, talk, documentary and daytime likely to have doubled that number if counted. At the same time, 

 that live plus time-shifted TV reached 80% of adults each week, with those viewers tuning in on average for over 30 hours weekly. And according to 

 daily increased by double digits for every age group in the past year.

So, with more shows available to watch than at any point before 2018 (when scripted originals totaled 495, second only to 2019’s 532), and appetites for televised programming undiminished (voracious, in fact), how can TV networks and streaming services drive awareness and tune-in for their new and returning series in such a hyper-fragmented landscape?

Here’s the answer: entertainment marketers can utilize our technology -- the most powerful in the industry -- to neutralize the risks of low campaign reach and excessive frequency in order to find their target audience whenever and wherever they’re watching.

. We use predictive calculations to source and market video ads to high-intent audiences across linear and CTV platforms, based on behavioral data we’ve gained from running traditional TV campaigns for over a decade. And with more than 120 networks integrated directly into our ad platform, we rely on precise automation – not inefficient, one-off negotiations -- to get tune-in messaging on the air in mere days.

For us, it’s really all about taking the guesswork out driving viewership. We don’t just target viewers of similar shows and networks by genre, but we also build lookalike audiences from visitors to our clients’ digital properties and then target those folks across linear TV and CTV. We also target viewers watching other shows and networks during the same time slot as well both past-seasons’ viewers and lapsed viewers (if we’re supporting a returning show).

Once the campaign is live, we provide marketers with full transparency via a reporting dashboard that generates insights in near-real-time about the direct correlations between spot performance, actions taken by viewers and ad spend. Those insights are used to make quick optimizations to future iterations so that campaigns stay lean – while as effective as possible.

Of course, tune-in for a series or season premiere is only the beginning of the journey. TV marketers need to drive viewership all season long, so we apply our tech and methodology to acquiring and retaining viewers week over week by, again, using our data to predict future viewing patterns and reaching those most likely to tune in with promos strategically placed across the expanded TV landscape. Then we close the loop by showing who ultimately watched the show after being exposed to an ad, and what the cost-per-converted viewer was.

Finally, whether it’s a linear network with a TV Everywhere app or a standalone streaming service, we know that entertainment marketers must not only drive Live+3 tune-in to specific programs, but also visitors and subscriptions to their sites and platforms. To achieve those goals, we use first-party app data to surgically target audience segments that are more likely to subscribe based on their linear and digital activity.

So, whether it’s about creating buzz and generating early awareness, boosting unique reach prior to a big premiere or reminding past viewers to catch up on episodes they missed via a connected app, Simulmedia has the solution to surviving and thriving in the most competitive media environment that entertainment marketers have ever seen.

 for a detailed guide on how to unlock audiences on both linear and connected TV.

 to take the next step to reaching the audience your programming needs to succeed.

Simulmedia fuses time-proven, data-driven insights and machine intelligence to plan targeted TV ad campaigns that help networks and streaming services drive viewers to their programming and subscribers to their apps.

How We Drive TV Tune-In & Streaming Subscribers

Driving Awareness and App Activity for CTV Platform’s Miniseries

Reaching Custom Target Audience for Original Miniseries Debut

A streaming platform needed to drive targeted awareness for the premiere of its highly anticipated limited series.

Driving Reach and Awareness for Streaming Platform’s Original Series Launch

Reaching Target Audience for Original Series Launch

A streaming platform needed to build awareness and drive viewership for its highly anticipated sci-fi futuristic drama.

Launching in a competitive streaming marketplace where there was an influx of new, high-quality programming options, the client wanted to ensure the campaign would find new viewers interested in high production value sci-fi/fantasy shows.

Simulmedia Drove Daily Viewership for Cable Network’s Programming

Prove Audience-Targeting Can Improve Tune-In for Cable Network

A cable network wanted to drive viewers to a daily block of programs on late at night. While it was currently doing some tune-in promotion already, it wanted to see if audience-targeting would further improve the block’s viewership.

TV Network Increases App Downloads with New TV Ad Strategy

National TV Network Needs to Increase Engagement With Its Digital Content

Traditional TV broadcasters wake up every day to rapidly changing consumer preferences and breathless media predictions about falling ratings, even as overall viewership has shown resilience. (For more on why ratings are falling more precipitously than viewership, 

.)

A national TV Network therefore wanted to increase consumption of its content through a TV Everywhere app. They needed an efficient way to find viewers beyond those they were able to reach with on-network promotion.

Simulmedia Re-engaged Viewers for TV Network's Midseason Return

Broadcast Network Needs to Re-engage Viewers After Months-Long Hiatus

A large broadcast network needed to re-engage its program’s viewers after a 3-month mid-season hiatus. The network was also interested in seeing how Simulmedia performed compared to its base plan.


Case studies on linear and connected TV advertising campaigns.

Simulmedia converted over 135k M18-49 viewers to the season premiere.

Simulmedia converted over 80k custom target viewers to the season premiere.

Simulmedia had a cost per converted viewer of $0.74 for M18-49 and $1.24 for the custom target.

Simulmedia’s campaign drove a 10x higher return on ad spend than the client’s other TV media.

Simulmedia’s campaign drove customers to the restaurant at a 68% higher rate compared to the client’s other TV media.

Overall, the client’s TV campaign increased purchasing behavior by 110%, higher than both of its top competitors.

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Simulmedia Converts New Viewers to Returning Program’s Premiere

The Challenge

Increase Ratings For Second Season Premiere of Cable Network’s Drama Series

The Solution

Create Lookalike Audience to Target With Two-Day Campaign

Custom Target

Prediction

The Results

Simulmedia Outperformed the Rest of the Cable Network’s TV Media

Additional Insights

Measure Top-Converting Spots to Optimize Future Campaigns