Quebecor is eliminating the 25 to 54 targeting demo starting January 2024.
Instead, the broadcaster will be basing TV sales on the 18-plus demo to be more representative of true TV viewership, one that provides a better standard of comparison with the total video offering, most notably YouTube, connected TV and social media.
Quebecor is the first broadcaster in Canada to stop using the 25-to-54 demo as advertising currency for TV-spot buying. Patrick Jutras (pictured), president of MELS video services and chief advertising revenue officer of Québecor and Groupe TVA, says the market is evolving.
“We’re an aging population, so the 25-to-54 segment has been declining over the past five or six years. The industry is evolving really fast and we have to be ahead of it. We’re privileged, I would say in Quebec, that we still have strong ratings, our ecosystem is robust despite the light decline year after year.”
Numeris, the audience data company, has also been re-evaluating demographics that it outlined in a November 2023 white paper.
It reports that Canada’s demographic composition has changed over the past 14 years, resulting in adults 25 to 54 now representing a smaller proportion of the total population. In 2009-2010, the adult 25-to-54 population consumed 48% of total viewing. By 2022-2023, the gap widened considerably with adults 25 to 54 now consuming 28% of total viewing. As a result, Numeris is encouraging the media industry to reassess and update its current practices and metrics.
Right now, the 55-plus demo, particularly baby boomers, is the demo with the most disposable income. Since adults 25 to 54 no longer have the most purchasing power, targeting them ignores the potential of the 55-plus group. This year, online video accounted for 46% of viewership among the 18-plus demo and 61% of ad budgets.
Quebecor realizes that advertisers will have to adapt to the change to 18-plus but the conversion will be done in total transparency and at no additional cost to clients. Jutras says that while many buyers believe TV advertising is expensive, looking at all adults 18-plus, TV’s cost-per-thousand (CPM) comes out to under $5 – much less than other video alternatives. In preparing for the shift to 18-plus, Quebecor has been increasing its connected TV inventory on Apple TV and will also be adding Roku.
