Harris: TV Networks Lead Media Categories in Brand Equity

NEW YORK: According to The Harris Poll 2016 EquiTrend Study, TV networks top all other media categories in regard to brand equity, but video-streaming subscriptions are closing the gap.

The EquiTrend Brand Equity Index is comprised of three factors—familiarity, quality and purchase consideration—that result in a brand equity rating for each brand. Media leaders include Netflix, YouTube, ABC and CBS Television Networks, and Pandora Internet Radio.

“Brand equity in media appears to operate somewhat differently than it does in other categories, reflecting the changing relationships between mass, targeted and even personalized channels,” said Joan Sinopoli, the VP of brand solutions at Nielsen, which owns the Harris Poll. “Some of the highest equity media brands may have limited penetration among the media-consuming public, but those that consume them, love them. They are true ‘fan brands’.”

Netflix is Harris Poll’s 2016 Video Streaming Subscription Brand of the Year and holds the strongest brand equity among media companies. Netflix has the 34th highest brand equity among all brands assessed. Netflix’s brand equity score has risen 18 percent since 2013, placing it among the study’s top “rapid equity risers.” Netflix holds a substantial lead over its nearest video-streaming subscription competitor—Amazon Prime Instant Video—in both equity and connection (the emotional and rational bonds consumers forge with brands).

“Netflix has enjoyed unopposed category dominance but the question is, how long can it sustain its astounding equity growth?” said Sinopoli. “While the overall category has room to grow with Millennials and now Generation Z coming of age, Netflix will need to stay close to consumer needs or see its share and rate of growth begin to slow as newer, sometimes edgier competitors fragment the market—not unlike what happened to major TV networks when cable offered more targeted entertainment choices.”

While TV networks maintain its media category equity lead, various cable networks with targeted content, as well as streaming entertainment, are making inroads.

“Particularly with the Brands of the Year—ABC and CBS—TV networks have experienced a slight lift in 2016,” said Sinopoli. “However, consumers tend to view factual-entertainment TV, which has a lot of educational content, as having a stronger positive social impact. This likely helps to push it toward the front in equity.”

Despite its lead over video-streaming subscriptions (EquiTrend score 68.4 versus 61.1), the Harris Poll study shows that the TV networks category will face its strongest challenge with Generation Z, not with Millennials. According to the research, Millennials award a similar level of equity to TV networks as do older generations, but a sharp decline in TV network equity among Generation Z tips the scales in favor of streaming.

“While much focus has been on Millennials’ media consumption, Gen Z stands to be the real disruptor,” said Sinopoli. “Among Millennials and Generation Z, video-streaming subscriptions have their strongest equity position, but TV networks’ equity drops dramatically among Gen Z consumers. Our research also shows that a gradual decline from the older generations to the younger in brand connection with TV networks becomes a significant decline with Gen Z. With an abundance of new media choices, such as Crunchy Roll and Twitch.tv, the mobile-first generation will accelerate media fragmentation at a speed we can barely grasp today.”