A lot has been made of the rise of broadcast video on demand (BVOD) and Connected TV (CTV) streaming in all global media markets. As a vessel of seemingly exponential growth since the BVOD acronym was coined, eyes are understandably fixated on this emerging and evolving medium and how it serves as a tool for brands to bolster television’s role in delivering for brands.

To date, much of the analysis of BVOD has been defined by its original identity as a “catch-up” service to supplement the much more entrenched linear TV. This was, without question, the original identity of BVOD: to serve as a destination for viewers to catch up and consume linear content with the added flexibility of digital streaming.

Over the past 12 months, however, BVOD has been going through a rapid change in identity. “Catch-up” is no longer its primary function. The majority of new BVOD viewers are using the platform exclusively to live stream broadcast content, while also going deeper into content libraries with more flexible and advanced ways to consume content in the connected environment.

In the first half of the year, total BVOD consumption across the three commercial free-to-air networks increased by 31 per cent. This is great – but leaving it there misses critical context into what this actually means for brands, as well as what this means for the future of the medium.

The context of this growth is everything, particularly as many media buyers are still in early phases of entrenching BVOD into their broader media plans. In previous years, growth had been linked directly to on-demand consumption, skewed heavily towards linear tentpole programming such as Big Brother or The Voice. While that baseline remains important, a rapidly growing independence from its bigger brother, linear TV, is what is defining more recent trends for BVOD.

All other things equal, as the reach of BVOD continues to grow and starts to close the gap on linear, we expected that the overlap between the two platforms would increase. We are in fact, seeing the opposite. VOZ demonstrates that the overlap in reach between Seven linear and 7plus BVOD has reduced by 17 per cent compared to a year ago, at the same time as overall consumption has grown significantly.

This single insight is important for several reasons.

Firstly, it demonstrates a structural difference in the two audiences. If BVOD growth was linked to the idea that viewers were using it to catch up on linear content they missed, then the duplication would be increasing proportionate to the audience growth. The increased reach on BVOD would be equally or increasingly reachable on linear TV. The fact that this overlap is going the other way shows the growth is driven by viewers who are exclusively using BVOD for both live and on demand content consumption, as a replacement and expansion of their TV viewing.

There has always been a structural difference built into the two audiences. BVOD can be consumed without access to a linear antenna, and vice versa for those without internet. What we are now seeing is that BVOD is increasingly meeting the needs of light and lapsed TV viewers, who are now streaming-only or streaming-dominant viewers. Critically, these are the viewers driving recent growth, ensuring the level of duplication trends down while total audience trends up.

The drivers of that 31 per cent growth have shifted dramatically over the past year. Within that 31 per cent growth, live consumption through BVOD is up 73 per cent and VOD is up 9 per cent. The big difference in these two numbers shows BVOD’s identity is evolving. Something different is going on.

Each of those numbers has a thousand points of context driving them. The live number is a combination of viewers now just using BVOD, as well as viewers using BVOD to expand to content unavailable on the linear broadcast. Consumption of FAST channels, for example, have grown eight-fold this year on the total 7plus ecosystem as we now see more than 40 – growing to 45 – FAST channels available on the platform.

As BVOD adapts to the expectations of modern viewers, our data points through 7REDiQ clearly show curated FAST channels compliment the on-demand content to offer both appointment and passive viewing options for the same content. Catering to all the ways modern viewers watch is just as important for growth as improving and increasing the volume of content itself.

For brands looking to assess the value of BVOD in their media plan, 31 per cent growth driven by existing linear viewers catching up on content is a vastly different value proposition to 31 per cent growth driven by a previously or currently unreachable audience. Incrementality and uniqueness of audience is the most important element in translating that growth story to tangible value.

VOZ now allows us to optimise these audiences across platforms and assess this incrementality for campaigns. The clearest example of the shift is in our tentpole content, which has been the historical driver of growth within BVOD’s “catch-up” identity. Advertisers in The Voice this year saw their BVOD campaigns deliver 21 per cent incremental reach for broad demographics, and above 30 per cent incremental reach for younger demographics. Critically, less than 5 per cent of the total reach was duplicated across screens. We have seen remarkably similar results across all major tentpoles this year, in the clearest and most obvious demonstration of the decoupling of BVOD from its legacy “catch-up” identity.

For a typical linear campaign, shifting between 20 per cent and 40 per cent (depending on the demographic) of your investment from social platforms or other mediums to BVOD means that for the same investment and total impressions, your unique reach grows by upwards of 30 per cent as you diversify into two structurally unique audience groups. Understanding these different audiences gives us confidence to consistently guarantee these types of outcomes. As the BVOD audience evolves, it is clear that anything other than a Total TV approach is by definition incomplete.

Education is the single biggest priority as we navigate the new Total TV trading landscape. This has been Seven’s focus both internally and externally, as we collaboratively look to move the industry forward in a mutually beneficial way. Understanding not just the volume of audience and the headline growth numbers, but the actual behaviour that underpins those numbers, ensures that every ounce of value can be extracted and delivered to brands in the most effective way possible. Our objectives are aligned with our customers.

Seven have recently partnered with PHD and Unilever ANZ, to test a fully converged end-to-end campaign. Recognising the clear incrementality of the two audiences, this type of campaign sets a precedent for future buying models by enabling truly fluid audience delivery across platforms, integrating VOZ into the planning, buying, and measurement stages of the campaign. Importantly, all bias in relation to linear and BVOD has been removed in favour of a single, Total TV mindset focused purely on results.

Months of knowledge-sharing, interrogation of the behaviour of the collective audience, and collaboration across the entire end-to-end process underpins the partnership. As it should. This is the future of our industry.

There has been clear strategic purpose behind this identity shift that ensures we are best placed to adapt to the constantly evolving demands of our viewers.

Viewers who are entrenched in the world of streaming rightfully expect a seamless end-to-end experience with effectively endless content that fits their niche interests. Personalisation, purpose, and control are defining requirements that guide consumption choices.

Seven’s partnership with AWS has enabled a full integration of Amazon Personalize, widely considered the global benchmark, into 7plus, ensuring that the viewer experience within the platform is uniquely their own.

Our recently announced partnership with gaming and technology business Aura, takes this increasingly personalised environment and allows viewers to own their experience on 7plus. Converging social feeds, live statistics, alternate camera angles, e-commerce and augmented reality while still retaining the primary content feed, is a direct response to the way in which viewers expect to engage with a modern video platform.

For BVOD, independence is the growth frontier that lets it evolve with viewer expectations. Content needs to be engaging and distributed as widely as possible to match and anticipate how viewers consume it. One without the other will not be enough.

Broadcast is still and will remain the fastest way to deliver effective reach. But outside of major cultural events, the generation of mass audience is now also driven far more by the sum of niche. The gateway to mass audience in the modern video ecosystem is through seamless access to devices and diverse content libraries that match the diversity of our population and their interests.

Underpinning everything is transparency and a collaborative approach to sharing knowledge, going beyond headlines to dig into the real value that can surpass a number.