After streaming saw a rollercoaster year in 2020, viewing trends are starting to level out to more stable and sustainable numbers, as evidenced by Q2 2021 reports. Samba TV’s State of Viewiership report shows that unsurprisingly, broadcast & cable saw continued viewership declines in Q2, reaching fewer households than they did a year ago (-25% for cable versus -19% for broadcast).
By comparison, viewership via connected devices saw big growth this quarter. Roku and Amazon are the top two platforms in terms of total impressions, with Roku up +27% and Amazon +49% compared to Q1, and +118% and 204% respectively from Q4 2020.
However, it’s not all growth for CTVs across the board. Apple and Google both saw fewer programmatic CTV impressions quarter over quarter, with Apple -6% and Google -49%.
As for households that are still hanging on to linear TV, numbers are declining since the pandemic high. The total linear minutes watched were down 14% compared to Q2 2020, but well above pre-pandemic levels, a full 34% higher than Q2 2019, per Samba TV.