The combined weekly reach of Fayetteville, North Carolina's broadcast television stations has slipped to 62.7% of all adults, according to Nielsen. These stations include area television stations like WRAL, WECT, WTVD, and, WUNC.  

The combined Fayetteville TV audience now falls behind cable programming at 69.5% and just ahead of streaming platforms at 57.1%. To put this virtual dead heat into perspective, none of the three video media is a match for Fayetteville radio which reaches more than 81% of local adults every week.

But although the reach of broadcast TV, cable, and streaming are neck-and-neck, the share of time consumers spend with each of these media is dramatically different.

During the past seven days. according to Nielsen, only 65.7% of local consumers tuned in to Fayetteville, North Carolina area television stations like WRAL, WECT, WTVD, and, WUNC.  TV's diminishing reach among adults 18 and older has been eclipsed by the audience size for social media, cable, and Fayetteville radio. Furthermore, streaming video services such as Netflix, Hulu, Prime, and Disney+ are quickly reaching parity with over-the-air options.

The erosion of local TV station audiences is stunning when comparing prime-time ratings from the past.  In 1980, the highest-ranked TV show was Cheers with a 21.3 rating. The 30th-ranked show was The Wonder Years with a 14.2 rating.

Twenty years later, Survivor was the number one show with a 17.4 rating and Family Law was the 30th ranked show with an 8.8 rating.

Finally, in 2019, Sunday Night Football was the number one ranked show with a 10.9 rating. Survivor tied with Dancing With The Stars in 30th place with a 5.5 rating.

It is stunning to think that the number one TV show in 2019 had a 24% lower rating than the 30th-ranked show in 1980.

Every week, 333,567 Fayetteville, North Carolina consumers watch something on TV.

Not too many years ago, when a Fayetteville consumer sat down to watch TV, the program options were limited to what was on Raleigh stations WRAL, WECT, WTVD, WUNC, or, maybe, what was on a handful of cable channels.  That was then. This is now.

Today, according to Nielsen, each time a TV is turned on in a Fayetteville living room, the viewer has more than 817,000 options not only from broadcast stations and cable systems, but also from streaming video platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Peacock, YouTube, Amazon, Tubi, Crackle, and FreeVee.

Of course, Fayetteville consumers don't even need to sit down in front of their big-screen LCD, anymore. Most of the 817,000 available programs can also be viewed on their computers, tablets, gaming devices, and smartphones. But as far as viewers are concerned, though, it's all just television.

Every week, 218,000 Fayetteville, NC adults watch video programs delivered via the internet. This content goes by several interchangeable names, including OTT (Over-The-Top Television), CTV (Connected TV), and Streaming Video. For this article, we will refer to this type of content as Streaming TV.

Unlike traditional TV, cable, and satellite where the viewer needs to be in a fixed location, Fayetteville consumers can access streaming TV anywhere using an internet-connected device. These include SmartTVs, Firesticks, Roku, smartphones, computers, laptops, tablets, and gaming consoles.

In all, according to Nielsen, 92.1% of Fayetteville households have one or more devices capable of connecting to streaming TV. Although this medium is still new, streaming TV now rivals legacy media in its ability to reach local consumers.

Every week, Fayetteville consumers are spending more-and-more time engaged with streaming TV.

No matter which Fayetteville, North Carolina area television station or cable channel adults tune to in 2022, they can expect to be assaulted by a deluge of political advertising. Often entire commercial breaks are stuffed with back-to-back pleas and promises to secure viewers' votes.

But is advertising on on Raleigh stations like WRAL, WECT, WTVD, or WUNC the most effective way to reach likely voters in the Fayetteville area? Or is advertising on cable channels provided by Spectrum, DISH, and DirecTV the way to go?

The answer is neither. According to research from Nielsen, the best way to reach local adults who are most likely to vote is by advertising on Fayetteville radio.

Every week, 162,000 likely voters will listen to Fayetteville radio stations. This is significantly more than watch local TV, cable, and streaming video. More that use social media and streaming audio. More than will read newspapers.

It wasn't too long ago when advertising on Fayetteville, NC area television stations was considered the gold standard for marketing by local business owners. But over the past few years, the number of viewers reached by Raleigh stations WRAL, WECT, WTVD, and, WUNC has plummeted. In all, only 66% of adult consumers now tune-in to at least one of these channels during the week, according to Nielsen.

The consumption of video content isn't diminishing among North Carolina consumers. What has changed, though, is how they are watching it.

In November, according to Nielsen, the share of time watching broadcast television has fallen behind other video options including cable programing and internet-delivered choices such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and hundreds of other streaming networks.

It used to be, when a small business owner wanted to advertise on television in Fayetteville, the only option was to advertise on Raleigh stations like WRAL, WECT, WTVD, and, WUNC. But slowly, the number of options has expanded to include cable channels provided by Spectrum, DISH, and DirecTV.

Heading in 2022, local advertisers have even more options as internet-connected devices deliver hundreds of more programming choices to North Carolina consumers. Collectively, this type of content is called OTT (Over-The-Top-Television) or CTV (Connected-Television). For the purpose of this discussion, OTT & CTV will be referred to singularly as streaming video.

Streaming video can be viewed on any device that can connect to the internet. This includes computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Programing can also be accessed using a smart-TV, Roku Stick, Amazon Fire Stick, or a game console. In all, according to Nielsen, 92.1% of Fayetteville households own a device capable of receiving streaming video.

In all, says Nielsen, 217,553 Fayetteville consumers watch streaming video content every week. Combined, these internet channels now reach more adults every week than local newspapers, podcasts, and digital audio services like Pandora, Spotify, Sirius/XM. Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio.

Surprisingly, streaming video now reaches almost as many Fayetteville adults as local TV and local cable.

Every week, according to Nielsen, 334,000 adult consumers in Fayetteville, North Carolina 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, Fayetteville consumers have a gargantuan number of viewing choices. This includes programs from stations like WRAL, WECT, WTVD, and, WUNC (now PBS NC). Or maybe cable and satellite systems like Spectrum, DISH, and DirecTV.. There's also content delivered over the internet from Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Disney+, and Amazon Prime.

No longer are Fayetteville 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 Fayetteville 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 Fayetteville adult viewers fall into each bucket. Remember, viewers are not limited to a single bucket.

Broadcast television came to the Fayetteville area in 1954 when WRAL-TV signed on for the first time. In those days, very few local households actually owned a set, a number that would grow to 50% by 1960.

At first, Fayetteville consumers needed rabbit-ears or outdoor antennas to receive signals from a small handful of North Carolina stations. The quality of reception varied day-to-day.

By the early 1960s, however, local cable systems began to bring higher-quality, reliable reception to households throughout the Fayetteville area. The number of programming options, though, remained limited to affiliates of ABC, NBC, and CBS.

In 1972, viewing options began to expand as local cable began offering Fayetteville area consumers the opportunity to purchase premium services, including HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax.  Five years later came an explosion of non-premium cable channels such as TBS and CNN.

In the early 1990s, Fayetteville viewers could not only receive their television programming over-the-air or by cable, but options expanded to include satellite delivery by DishTV and DirectTV.

The next TV innovation came in 2007 as Fayetteville consumers started turning to the internet to watch streaming channels like Netflix and Hulu.  These new services allowed viewers to watch TV on their phones, computers, and tablets as well as their living room LCD and Plasma screens.

Today, all of this video technology offers viewers the ultimate flexibility to choose how, when, and where to watch TV.  So, what are they watching?

Before we explain AVOD, it is important to understand SVOD.

Fayetteville small business owners may not be familiar with SVOD, but chances are they let it into their homes and onto their phones.

SVOD is the abbreviation for Subscription Video On Demand. That is the collective name for streaming networks like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Amazon Prime.  For a monthly fee, these services provide commercial-free access to TV shows, original content, and movies.

These SVOD networks are delivered to viewers' phones, tablets, computers, and smart-TVs via the internet and not over-the-air or cable systems.

SVOD makes up a significant part of what advertisers refer to as OTT (Over-The-Top-Television) and CTV (Connected-Television). OTT/CTV is video-programming content that viewers can only watch on smartphones, tablets, computers, smart-TVs, Amazon Firesticks, and Roku Sticks.  Nielsen reports that 94.2% of Fayetteville adults own at least one of these devices.

Advertising on local television and cable is becoming less attractive to Fayetteville business owners as viewers rapidly defect to alternative video entertainment sources including, Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Amazon and Disney+.

Collectively these streaming services are referred to as Over-The-Top Television (OTT) and Connected-TV (CTV). Viewers can only access this OTT and CTV content via smartphone, tablets, computers, smart-TVs, Amazon Fire Sticks, and Roku Sticks, Nielsen reports that 94.2% of Fayetteville adults own at least one these devices. Furthermore, they are using them.

According to Nielsen, OTT and CTV networks now reaches 42.3% of all Fayetteville consumers every week.

More than one-third of Fayetteville area households are 'cord-cutters' or 'cord-nevers'. This means, they have fired their cable or satellite television providers or never subscribed at all. Instead, these consumers are choosing to find their video entertainment elsewhere.

The number of local homes that subscribe to pay-TV services began plummeting in 2013. New technologies has allowed viewers to bypass cable and satellite for more compelling content at lower prices. These cord-cutters now depend on services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Amazon Prime to fill their multiple screens.

For many years, North Carolina small business owners have been investing a significant portion of their advertising budgets into cable-TV.  The medium had proven to be a low-cost, high-reach alternative to buying commercial on over-the-air television stations. 

Now, because of cord-cutting, there are 121,000 adult consumers with unconnected TVs. This profoundly diminishes the value proposition of advertising with local cable systems.

There is a powerful and affordable solution, however, for small business owners to reach both the diminishing cable audience and the expanding number of cord-cutters.