About 95% of linear TV advertising impressions were served to just 55% of viewers in Q4 2021, according to smart TV data from viewership company Samba TV across Australia, Germany, the UK and the US.

As a result, light viewers make up 45% of households but receive just 5% of linear TV ad impressions. This varies from 3% in the US to 6% in Germany.

Why it matters

This has actually declined between Q4 2020 and Q4 2021, suggesting that linear TV ads are increasingly reaching a smaller subset of people. In the US, for example, light viewers' share of...