Less than one month before Election Day 2022, and the voter landscape has never been more fragmented. That’s according to a new survey from Samba TV in tandem with global research firm HarrisX. The survey of more than 2,300 U.S. adults who are registered to vote in November offers a window into the future of political engagement. In both 10 key battleground states and across the national landscape, streaming content has overtaken traditional television as the medium of choice for voters in both parties.
With less than a month to go before the November elections, voters report being nearly twice as likely to stream content as having a monthly cable subscription, with a majority of U.S. voters in both parties no longer having traditional linear TV subscriptions in the home.
A majority of U.S. registered voters no longer have traditional linear TV subscriptions. The survey found just 49% of U.S. registered voters have traditional TV. 1 in 4 of those who do still have traditional TV plan to cancel in the next six months, signaling an even more complicated outlook for linear advertisers heading into the 2024 elections.
More than 80% of registered voters nationally and in key battleground states stream. Just 55% of those nationally and 56% of those in key battleground states who definitely plan to vote have a traditional TV subscription. 8 in 10 of these groups stream. Battleground state Democrats are much more likely to stream video on their mobile phones (72% compared to 59% of Republicans).
Millennial and Gen Z voters are even harder to reach on linear. Reaching younger voters on traditional TV is even more challenging. Millennial and Gen Z voters are more than twice as likely to stream than they are to have a traditional linear subscription today and the gap is even wider for younger voters in battleground states.
Social media remains a key destination for voter information. Facebook remains the most used platform by registered voters nationally, but has less of an impact in the key battleground states. Democrat voters are significantly more likely to use TikTok than Republicans nationally, with 37% of Democratic voters using it weekly compared to just 27% of Republican voters. Younger Gen Z voters continue to stray from Facebook making YouTube and TikTok as their top two social media platforms used weekly.
Key Takeaway from Ashwin Navin, Co-Founder and CEO of Samba TV: “The story this election season is the same whether you are looking nationally or at the key battleground states. Voters have left traditional linear television in droves. Only 39% of independent swing voters in battleground states have traditional TV. With so many elections now being determined by the slimmest of margins, campaigns need to dramatically rethink how they reach voters in the closing weeks to ensure they are not just saturating the same shrinking number of households with ads while leaving the vast majority of the electorate under-reached.”
Key Takeaway from Dritan Nesho, Founder and CEO of HarrisX: “The data points very clearly that the future king of political ad spending will be streaming. Voter eyeballs are more likely to be present there by a factor of almost two to one.”
As Election Day nears, the clock is ticking for campaigns to assess and implement these strategies to better reach crucial voters. Check out tools like Samba TV’s guaranteed incremental reach to maximize your spend across channels.
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