Tampa Bay business owners are expected to spend $257,507,00 on streaming video advertising in 2021, according to Borrell Associates, a company that tracks online marketing expenditures across the country. This spending will be 25.9% higher than in 2020.

Streaming video advertising expenditures are accelerating as Tampa Bay consumers continue to abandon shows on local TV stations and cable systems in favor of programming streamed via an internet connection. These online channels include Netflix, Hulu, Prime, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock, Prime Video, Roku Channel, SlingTV, PlutoTV, and dozens more.

This type of streamed video content is known collectively as OTT (Over-The-Top-Television) or CTV (Connected-Television). These two terms are sometimes used interchangeably but do have a subtle difference.

OTT generally means the video is watched on a small device like a computer, tablet, or smartphone.  CTV, on the other hand, typically means the content is viewed on a smart-TV or a regular television using a streaming device like a Roku or Amazon stick.

In Tampa Bay, according to Nielsen, OTT/CTV has exceeded the weekly reach of local newspapers and streaming audio services such as Pandora and Spotify. The medium is rapidly approaching the reach of local cable and broadcast TV stations.

When Tampa Bay's first radio station, WDAE, began broadcasting on May 31, 1922, the station needed a tall antenna and lots of buried copper cable to transmit its signal.  Radio receivers at the time were mostly homemade and involved a piece of crystalline mineral and a wire coil.

Over many decades in Tampa Bay, both the broadcasting and receiving equipment improved. In the mid-1920s this meant store-bought radios. In the 1930s this meant car radios. In the 1960s this meant transistor radios. In the 1970s this meant boom boxes. And, in the 1980s this meant Walkmen. But, despite these improvements, the fundamental technology of big towers sending a signal through the air to a radio receiver remained the same.

In 1994, there was a new way for Tampa Bay consumers to listen to the radio. That was the year local stations across the country began streaming their signals over the internet and listeners could use their computers (later their smartphones and smart speakers) as receiving devices. No big antennas, no wires, and no actual radio needed.

In 2021, according to Nielsen, Tampa radio reaches more local consumers than any other advertising media option.

Neilsen finds, too, that 34.8% of all consumers who listen to a Tampa Bay radio station over-the-air will, at some point during the month, also connect to a local station via the internet. 

Nearly 96% of Tampa Bay adults have access to the internet.  Ubiquitous technology such as computers, tablets, smartphones, and connected TVs allow West Florida consumers to go online whenever they choose, which, for some adults, is always.

The Pew Research Center, a public opinion research company, reports that one-in-three consumers say they are online constantly. A 50% increase from 2015.  In total, 85% of consumers say they connect at least one time every day.

So, how are Tampa Bay consumers spending all this time connected to the internet?

According to Nielsen, streaming audio and video content, social networking, checking the weather, and banking are the top online activities for Tampa Bay consumers each month.

Broadcast television came to Tampa Bay in 1953 when WSUN-TV (now WTTA) signed on for the first time. In those days, very few local households actually owned a set, a number that would grow to 50% by 1960.

At first, Tampa Bay consumers needed rabbit-ears or outdoor antennas to receive signals from a small handful of local stations, including  WFLA and WTVT. The quality of reception varied day-to-day.

By the early 1960s, however, local cable systems began to bring higher-quality, reliable reception to households throughout the Tampa Bay area. The number of programming options, though, remained limited to affiliates of ABC, NBC, and CBS.

In 1972, viewing options began to expand as local cable began offering Tampa Bay area consumers the opportunity to purchase premium services, including HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax.  Five years later came an explosion of non-premium cable channels such as TBS and CNN.

In the early 1990s, Tampa Bay viewers could not only receive their television programming over-the-air or by cable, but options expanded to include satellite delivery by DishTV and DirectTV.

The next TV innovation came in 2007 as Tampa Bay consumers started turning to the internet to watch streaming channels like Netflix and Hulu.  These new services allowed viewers to watch TV on their phones, computers, and tablets as well as their living room LCD and Plasma screens.

Today, all of this video technology offers viewers the ultimate flexibility to choose how, when, and where to watch TV.  So, what are they watching?

According to Nielsen, 2.5 million adults in the Tampa Bay area have access to the internet, equivalent to 95.7% of the population. On average, local consumers are spending 9.68 hours per week online.

Tampa Bay millennials, the first generation that grew up in a digital world, spend considerably more time online. Nielsen reports that, on average, Tampa Bay's 25-39-year-old consumers are clocking 12.7 hours connected to the internet.

So, how are Tampa Bay consumers spending their time online?

According to Nielsen, streaming audio and video content, social networking, checking the weather, and banking are the top online activities for Tampa Bay consumers each month.

Tampa Bay's first radio station, WDAE-AM, began broadcasting on May 31, 1922.  The process of getting the station's programming from the studio into the home of local listeners required tall-transmitting towers with miles of underground copper wire in the middle of massive fields.

For the next 71 years, this massive investment in real estate, steel, and cooper was the only method of delivering a radio advertiser's message into the ears of Tampa consumers.

In 1993, however, new technology permitted Tampa radio stations to augment the reach of their tall towers by simultaneously streaming its over-the-air programming via the internet. This provided local consumers with the choice of listening to their favorite stations on their car radios, clock radios, and boom boxes or on an internet connected devices like computers, smartphones, or tablets.

Today, based on estimates from Edison Research, 11% of listening to local radio stations occurs on a streaming media device.  The ability for AM/FM to migrate from their tall towers to internet streaming allows Tampa radio to reach more local consumers every week than all other media.

There are 47 radio stations with listeners in Tampa Bay. Each provides a unique format of news, sports, music, entertainment, and inspiration. Some stations broadcast in English. Others serve Spanish speakers. Some stations cater to millennials. Others appeal to Baby Boomers.  No doubt, there is a local radio station that fulfills the preferences of every listener.

Each week, according to Nielsen, 2.2 million adults tune-in to their favorite Tampa radio stations. This is more people than watch local TV, cable, or streaming channels. This is more than use Facebook and Instagram. This is more than read newspapers or connect to Pandora and Spotify. 

Despite the abundance of Tampa radio stations to choose between, Nielsen reports that, on average, adult consumers only listen to 2.8 each week.  So, which stations do local consumers choose?

In 1922, WDAE became the first radio station to serve Tampa Bay. Today, 2,193,604 adult consumers tune-in to Tampa radio stations every week. This is significantly more than watch local TV or read newspapers. 

Tampa Bay small business owners, however, also want to know how local radio compares to streaming audio platforms like Pandora and Spotify, especially as it relates to advertising. The answer could surprise many of them.

Pandora was created to provide a personalized radio station catering to the musical preferences of each user.  The playlists were determined by a proprietary algorithm and then streamed directly to each listeners' computer. Over the next few years, the service became available on iPads and smartphones.

Of all the advertising options available to Tampa Bay small business owners, streaming audio services like Pandora and Spotify are the least effective.  Here's why.

According to Nielsen, after the content of a commercial is considered, the element of an advertising campaign that drives sales the most is reach. In other words, making sure the most people possible are exposed to the advertiser's message is crucial.

When it comes to achieving reach among consumers, Pandora and Spotify rank dead last.  Advertising on Tampa radio stations, actually, can reach 266% more consumers than these two streaming-audio platforms combined.