Advice | Advertise in Fort Myers and Southwest Florida

What Are Fort Myers Consumers Watching On TV?

Written by Larry Julius | Nov 18, 2021 7:43:05 PM

Every week, according to Nielsen, 943,000 adult consumers in Southwest Florida watch something on television. But, of course, the definition of what it means to watch TV has changed since the time when the number of available viewing options could be counted on the fingers of a single hand.

Today, SWFL consumers have a gargantuan number of viewing choices. This includes programs from stations like WINK, WBBH, WZVN, WGCU, and WFTX. Or maybe cable and satellite systems like Xfinity, DISH, and DirecTV. There's also content delivered over the internet from Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Disney+, and Amazon Prime.

No longer are Fort Myers-Naples consumers tied to the 21-inch Zenith in their living rooms. Instead, TV can be watched on giant LCDs, smartphones, and tablets from any room in the house, in the backseat of their cars, or practically anywhere else.

The best way to think about TV watching in Fort Myers is in terms of three buckets:

  1. Over-the-air...including all broadcast channels
  2. Cable...including all premium and non-premium programming
  3. Internet...including all streaming services. This is also known as OTT or CTV

Here's how many Fort Myers adult viewers fall into each bucket. Remember, viewers are not limited to a single bucket.

For local business owners who advertise on Fort Myers television, it is not only essential to know how many consumers inhabit a bucket; it's also essential to know how much time a viewer spends in each bucket.  This information is critical for creating effective advertising campaigns.

As of September of 2021, according to Nielsen, 38% of all viewing time is spent in the cable bucket. Internet streaming accounts for 28% of viewing time. Finally, over-the-air viewing only accounts for 26% of time spent watching TV.

It is important to point out that over-the-air did enjoy an increase from 24% in August to 26% in September. Nielsen credits this bump to gains from football games and the start of the fall season of programming on the major over-the-air TV networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox.

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