Samba TV has published its latest State of Viewership report, analysing over four billion hours of linear streaming in Australia during the second half of 2024.

According to the report, linear TV viewing hours surged 12%, hitting a post-pandemic high, driven by major events like the Olympics, AFL, and The Supercars Championship. Average daily was reach up 9%.

The report also noted growth across linear, SVOD, and digital video platforms, which each added 300,000 new users in 2024. SVOD users grew to 14.3 million, accounting for 52.8% of the Australian population, while digital video audiences grew to 19 million, or 70.4% of the Australian population.

In terms of content, drama accounted for 66% of the top 50 show launched on streaming in the second half of 2024. Meanwhile, hits including The Penguin, The Day of the Jackal and Landman eschewed the usual two week discovery window, with word-of-mouth bringing in new audiences weeks after launch. The Penguin, for example, saw almost three-quarters of its viewership occur after the first 15 days.

Meanwhile, advertiser spending saw an uptick across most verticals, with notable increases in the pets (+57%), travel (+13%), and retail sectors (+32%). According to Samba TV, holiday retail spend was was particularly strong, with all top ten retailers boosting ad impressions to drive higher sales.

In terms of TV ad impressions, nearly half were attributed to four main categories, entertainment (25%), retail (16%), home & garden (8%), and food & beverage (7%). In particular, retail’s share rose by three points from early 2024.

McDonald's was the top advertiser, by impressions, across linear and streaming, despite impressions falling 8 per cent from the 1st half. Harvey Norman jumped from sixth to second position after driving impressions up 84% and the Australian government also increased by 130% to land in fourth position, behind Woolworths.

Health food and medical brands dominated in the top 25 advertisers by year-over-year growth in linear and streaming impressions. A2 Milk drove the highest increase at +15,961%, followed by Flooring TRA with +11,130%, The CPAP Clinic with +3,028%, Demazin with +1,146, and Primo with +1,020%.

On the flip, food and beverage brands were prominent in the bottom 25 advertisers by the same measure, with the ranking including Arnott's (-51%), Maltesers (-49%), Coca Cola (-50%), Nutella (-47%), Moccona (-43%), and others.

Meanwhile, every top retailer increased ads year on year, with Amart increasing impressions by 120%. Harvey Norman was the top retailer by ad impressions, followed by Woolworths (+84%), Chemist Warehouse (+43%), Aldi (+27%), and Coles (+16%).

Per Samba TV, balancing reach & frequency was an issue for advertisers, with 90% of ads reaching just half of households. That could lead to wastage, with the top 50% of linear TV households seeing an average of 115 TV ads each day while the bottom 50% see an average of just 14.

The report also highlighted significant changes in promotional advertising, the largest jump recorded by Stan (up 128%), tied to Olympics coverage and Australian originals. Prime Video ramped up ads by 109% after launching its new ad tier and Paramount+ held the highest share of voice, boosted by ads on Network Ten.