What future for segmented TV?

Fantasized for decades by professionals in the sector, has segmented television gone out of fashion? A revolution initiated in 2020, the possibility of sending different advertisements according to the target audience segments in linear television had been the subject of experiments and other adjustments until 2023, the year of its industrialization: 7.1 million households were then eligible, a sufficient number to push more than 1,100 advertisers to broadcast more than 1,600 “segmented” campaigns. Two figures up 46% compared to 2022. Furthermore, 1.4 billion substitutions of TV spots were made last year, or 75% more than a year earlier.

A boom offering good prospects for 2024… Except that the subject has been eclipsed this year by CTV (connected TV), essential in the 2025 T&Cs of the main TV agencies on the market, where segmented television only occupies ‘an often anecdotal place. “Segmented television was an innovation three years ago and it has since completely established itself as one of the levers for targeting campaigns. Since September 2023, the turnover achieved by the agency on these offers has doubled, which shows this dynamic. But in fact, it is one addressability lever among others, with SVoD, AVoD and all the innovations relating to CTV. The news has been rich on the subject this year”indicates Emmanuelle Godard, digital, data and innovation director of Canal+ Brand Solutions, in reference to the launches of advertising offers from Netflix and Prime Video, and those of the streaming platforms from TF1 and M6.

Without forgetting the development of free Fast digital channels, broadcast directly on connected televisions or operator boxes. “As a buzzword, CTV occupies more of our communication actions than segmented television”admits Raphaël Porte, director of RMC BFM Ads, Altice Media’s management company which launched the BFM2 channel a few weeks ago. However, it brings a semantic nuance: “In my opinion, these two terms refer to similar subjects. When we think of CTV, we often think of Smart TVs and apps installed on them like Netflix, when in reality, the term simply refers to feed-through television, which allows ads to be delivered and their effectiveness measured . There is therefore CTV OTT, with among others Smart TVs, and CTV FAI, which goes through operator boxes. Segmented television designates this second category.

A 40% increase in impressions delivered

A second category which has many advantages to distinguish itself, but which should not be understood alone, according to Laurent Bliaut, deputy general director of marketing and R&D at TF1 Publicité: “Segmented television is an asset in its own right, the benefit of which is based on the power of linear television, which can deliver hundreds of thousands of impressions simultaneously. But in terms of addressability, it must indeed be thought of as a component of a whole, which is also based on the TF1+ platform. Together, they have a monthly addressable reach of 50 million people, whereas the addressable audience of segmented television is 16 to 20 million individuals.”

However, reach is the crux of the addressability war: “The more important it is, the more you can carry out specific targeting without taking the risk of only reaching a few hundred thousand people. You will have a good ROI, but the impact on your sales will be limited.” From this point of view, the increase in the addressable number of segmented TV and the commercial negotiations between Free and the other networks will once again be at the heart of the issues for 2025. “For an advertiser, it is preferable to be able to address 100% of TV audience shares”judge Laurent Bliaut, who nevertheless welcomes the progress shown by segmented television in the first half of 2024: “The The growth of segmented television is still experiencing strong momentum, with a 40% increase in impressions delivered compared to 2023.”

9.3 million eligible households by the end of 2024

Segmented television is therefore still growing, even though the agencies are communicating less this year on the number of campaigns and advertisers, or the typology of targeting used. After having summarized the figures for 2023, SNPTV contented itself in September 2024 with taking stock with AF2M on the evolution of the addressable fleet. The latter is expected to increase this year by nearly 31%, going from 7.1 million eligible households to 9.3 million, or 36% of French households. Next year, the milestone of 10 million households should be passed, depending on the outcome of negotiations with Free.

At the start of 2024, only M6 reached an agreement with the operator, becoming the first network capable of monetizing all households eligible for segmented television. “For us, segmented television is not diluted at all in the CTV subject and remains more than ever a lever in its own right, which combines the reach of linear and the targeting capacity of digital. In 2024, we have not only strengthened our offer by agreeing with Free, but also by enriching the quality of our data”indicates Élise Guyard, programmatic director, data and partnership at M6 Publicité. “We are the only ones to work with Valiuz (data alliance of the Mulliez brands, which brings together among others Auchan, Boulanger, Decathlon, Kiabi, Norauto and Leroy Merlin, Editor’s note)Infinity (Casino/Intermarché) and finally Unlitail (Carrefour, KingFisher France, Galeries Lafayette Group, Rakuten France, Showroomprivé, ManoMano…)”she adds, claiming the most complete offer in terms of retail media.

Retail media in the spotlight

An offer reinforced by the launch of a retail media marketplace dedicated to segmented television, TV Retail Connect, during which M6, RMC BFM Ads and FranceTV Publicité are joining forces with Unlitail and rewarding us with one of the only clearly identified “segmented television” announcements of the 2025 General Terms and Conditions. “TV Retail Connect is a way to simplify market access to the power of segmented TV and the qualified data on which targeting is based. It also offers support services, particularly on measuring efficiency.explains Élise Guyard. “It is the most powerful retail media offering in the segmented television and VoD market, based on data from the 14 million Carrefour households, of which our 3 agencies are partners. This data guarantees the precision and effectiveness of targeting.

This offer will also allow our customers to gain considerably in simplicity and agility, with a single commercial entry point with one of the 3 agencies which is responsible for coordinating the campaign, a clear entry ticket and unified reporting in the DSP”assures Marianne Siproudhis, the general director of FranceTV Publicité. And if the offer is intended to open up to other agencies in the future, it therefore responds to two of the main challenges of connected television and CTV: the simplification of the purchase of these inventories and the improvement of targeting proposed thanks to data which, like reach, is the other aspect on which the interest of these innovations rests. “The ability to activate data has been a strong demand from the start, and it is still a challenge, including in CTV. From the start, we therefore sought to offer segmentations based, for example, on the AAA Data file, which aggregates data from the automotive sector. But we are a special case, since we have capitalized less on geographical targeting: we already cover half of French viewers thanks to our local versions”recalls Raphaël Porte.

A digital lever like any other?

Thus, behavioral and transactional data from retail media are increasingly activated, in the same way as the famous socio-demographic and geographic segmentations which have driven the growth of segmented television in 2022 and 2023 by allowing advertisers to target populations or specific areas. Last year, it allowed Ben & Jerry’s to expose buyers aged over 49, CSP+ and residing in Île-de-France, a population that the brand recruits less than its competitor Häagen-Dazs and a region priority, especially for home delivery. With TF1 and MarketingScan, the brand was able to observe the impact of the campaign, leading to a 6% increase in the number of buyers within the target and the targeted area.

A heritage mineral water brand, Archédoise Vals was able to try its hand at TV advertising with France Télévisions, by targeting the areas in which it is distributed thanks to the geographic targeting of segmented TV. Result ? Sales

In 2023, 37% of segmented campaigns were exclusively geographic targeting. “In the first half of 2024, 38% of campaigns carried out on our segmented television channels came from local players.adds Marianne Siproudhis, citing as an example Vals, a mineral water brand from Ardèche, which benefited last year from an incremental turnover of 10% thanks to a local campaign. After an association with the Smappen solution in 2022, FranceTV Publicité this year entered into a partnership with ShoWhere to strengthen its geolocalized offers. “Segmented television continues its growth momentum with a 33% increase in impressions broadcast on our channels in the first half. From now on, we are accelerating in terms of onboarding with the upcoming launch of our data clean room, which will allow us to move up a notch in terms of targeted power.”argues Marianne Siproudhis, thus summarizing the major challenge that the authorities will face in 2025.

From now on, advertisers will be able to get closer to common use cases in the digital world, as Emmanuelle Godard explains: “The data must be liquid between the different environments and we must be able to reach the same targets in segmented television or CTV as online. The systems are the same, and we do, for example, retargeting on television on people exposed to content on Dailymotion or Prisma. These channels are complementary and must be activated in order to provide maximum target coverage to advertisers.” So, far from being revolutionary or forgotten, segmented television simply seems to keep its promise, bringing together the best of both worlds, according to the now well-established formula.