Media Reach: Facebook and TV

Nielsen last week released a study [download page] comparing the reach of Facebook and TV across day-parts and age groups. The study, which was commissioned by Facebook, argues that ad dollars haven’t migrated to online media as quickly as audiences have, and points to Facebook’s rival – if not greater – pull with youth over the typical TV network. While the researchers admit to their media allocation hypotheses being on the basis of reach only, it’s also fair to ask whether Facebook and TV are even in competition in marketers’ budgets, as argued by this analyst, and whether it’s relevant to make theoretical allocations based only on medium reach. But even if viewed as nothing more than an academic exercise, the study contains some interesting data points. (more…)