OOH and TV Measurement Study: Reaching Younger Audiences

Written by Daniel Tjondronegoro | Nov 13, 2026, 11:53:23 AM

Summary: Across cross-media campaigns in Australia and the United Kingdom, out-of-home (OOH) added far more incremental reach among 18 to 24 year olds than among all adults: 63.79% for 18 to 24s and 51.11% for 18 to 34s, against 31.49% for 18 to 69s, when measured alongside linear TV and BVOD on one single-source panel.

Author: Daniel Tjondronegoro, Beatgrid Co-Founder. Peer-reviewed by Bruce Mundell.

Challenge

The study was conducted in the context of the current fragmented cross-media advertising landscape, in which global brands are faced with the challenge of accurately determining an effective channel selection strategy. This study analyzed over 400 cross-media campaigns in the United Kingdom and Australia to identify audience patterns in relation to Out-of-Home (OOH), Linear Television (TV), and Broadcast Video On Demand (BVOD) channels. The findings provided key insights into the unknowns faced by marketers in terms of audience measurement, particularly in regard to the various ways in which consumers engage with media channels and advertising across different global markets.

The advertising viewing patterns observed in this study might be influenced by a range of factors, including the quality of local TV content and outdoor infrastructures supporting OOH, meteorological and seasonal conditions, and other demographic, social, and psychographic variables that vary by market. The importance of establishing agreed methods for measuring the effectiveness of media investments across multiple markets was also emphasized, highlighting the need for advertisers to tailor their cross-platform advertising approaches to local differences that will affect their media mix strategies.

Cross-region key highlights

OOH and TV

Across multiple campaigns in Australia and the United Kingdom that included a comparison of TV and OOH, the OOH incremental reach ratio was 52.74% for 18 to 24s against 33.41% for 18 to 69s in Australia, and 68.65% for 18 to 24s against 33.86% for 18 to 69s in the United Kingdom.

OOH and BVOD

Across campaigns in Australia and the United Kingdom that included a comparison of OOH and BVOD, the BVOD incremental reach ratio was 54.18% for 18 to 69s against 22.62% for 18 to 24s in Australia, and 26.48% for 18 to 69s against 22.69% for 18 to 24s in the United Kingdom.

OOH, BVOD and TV

Across campaigns in different regions that included a comparison of BVOD, TV, and OOH, the OOH incremental reach ratio was 63.79% for 18 to 24s and 51.11% for 18 to 34s, against 31.49% for 18 to 69s. This was a key example of OOH's growing value in cross-media campaigns with younger audiences, and suggests that OOH is likely to have a greater impact on Gen Z's brand perception than on Millennials'.

Methodology

In this study, person-level deterministic ad exposure across Linear Television, Broadcast Video On Demand (BVOD), and Out-of-Home (OOH) channels was measured using Beatgrid's mobile Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology. With the panelist's consent, ACR-enabled mobile apps create audio fingerprints on the device, which are matched with the fingerprints of ad creatives in Beatgrid's ads database. This allows accurate measurement of single-source cross-media, cross-platform campaign audiences and advertising verification at the person level. OOH ad exposure was further measured using geofencing in combination with GPS signals, enabling precise location tracking.

Panel opt-in and data approach

Beatgrid used its GDPR-compliant double opt-in mobile panel in Australia, the United Kingdom, and India, by inviting panelists to its proprietary meter app Media Rewards. For this cross-region study with advertisers across the world:

Reach and frequency data was calculated based on our mobile panel of 18 to 69 year olds.
Census-based data weighting was applied based on national statistics data from 2018 to 2021, depending on the country, to normalize Beatgrid's data for national representativeness.

Peer review

This study has been peer-reviewed by Bruce Mundell, a media buying specialist, former Business Director at Mindshare, and former Group Director, Customer Strategy at oOh!Media. Bruce, based in Sydney, Australia, has more than 20 years of media agency and media publisher experience and specializes in media consultation, growth strategies, data strategies, platform architecture, problem-solving, and media sales training. His experience in the media industry made him well suited to review the study thoroughly and provide insights that helped ensure the accuracy and quality of the results presented here. We are grateful for his expertise and contribution to the project.

Results

The main purpose was to understand deterministic reach and frequency validation for the OOH, Linear TV and BVOD incremental reach ratio, to measure cross-media content exposure and to compare results in different markets. Beatgrid analyzed ad exposure results based on Media Rewards panel data.

A) OOH vs. Linear TV

An 18 to 24 Linear TV cohort who were heavy OOH consumers was observed in Australia, indicating that Out-of-Home brings major increments in campaign reach ratios among younger audiences.
Consumer patterns in the United Kingdom showed a similar picture for 18 to 24s exposed to TV and OOH, leading to the conclusion that OOH brings valuable incremental reach to Linear TV advertising campaigns.
In India, results indicate that Linear TV consumption was and still is the norm. Although advertiser demand for OOH is high, the audiences analyzed in the study do not seem to have been greatly affected by OOH advertising exposure.

B) BVOD vs. Linear TV

BVOD contributed relatively little reach and frequency compared to Linear TV. Linear TV generally receives most of its 1+ reach within the first four weeks of a campaign, leading to an increase in frequency in later weeks.
In contrast, BVOD had a slow reach curve over 13 weeks, while adding a small overall reach.
Across the UK and Australia, the majority of audience reach for the analyzed channels was observed among the broad 18 to 69 audience. Audiences aged 34 or below consistently under-delivered across markets, although younger audiences were present to a lesser extent on both BVOD and Linear TV. These cross-market findings suggest that, while older audiences may be the primary target for these channels, there is still some potential for engagement with younger demographics.
Linear TV is still widely watched by older generations across regions. While these viewers may also use BVOD, Linear TV remains the more popular choice. Advertisers looking to reach this demographic and optimize their cross-media budgets should therefore consider Linear TV and BVOD as part of one cohesive strategy and not treat them as separate channels.

C) BVOD vs. OOH

Across Australia and the UK, comparing BVOD (40.33% for 18 to 69s against 17.45% for 18 to 34s) with OOH (82.57% for 18 to 69s against 82.74% for 18 to 34s) revealed a minimal incremental reach ratio for BVOD in relation to OOH campaigns.

D) OOH vs. Linear TV vs. BVOD

The 18 to 34 age group, which is traditionally more difficult to reach through Linear TV, can be reached effectively through Out-of-Home advertising as part of a comprehensive media plan.
BVOD added a very minimal incremental reach ratio to both Linear TV and OOH.
It is well known that 18 to 34 year olds consume more Connected TV (CTV), YouTube, and TikTok. Our research suggests that OOH can also help Linear TV campaigns reach this group. This leads to the hypothesis that OOH could also drive a significant incremental reach ratio for Connected TV, YouTube, or other digital campaigns. Our findings indicate that, when used with Linear TV advertising at the right time and in the appropriate context, OOH has the potential to generate a significant brand lift effect with Millennials and Gen Z.
Looking deeper into Gen Z against Millennials, the evidence shows that OOH drives an even greater incremental reach ratio among 18 to 24s than among 18 to 34s, which suggests that OOH is likely to have a stronger positive effect on Gen Z's brand perception and mind metrics than on Millennials'.
For the OOH incremental reach ratio against Linear TV and BVOD, Australia and the United Kingdom showed very similar advertising exposure patterns.

Conclusions

According to the results of this study and other industry research, the OOH reach ratio increases in the younger subset of the population. This confirms that OOH audiences are younger and incremental to those of Linear TV and BVOD, which share similar characteristics. Advertisers looking to reach these younger audiences can use this information to understand who these audiences are and where to find them, and how to incorporate OOH into their cross-media mix.

Beatgrid's next cross-region investigation will focus on accurately measuring OOH incrementality and comparing it with YouTube and CTV when targeting younger cohorts with cross-media campaigns.

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