Understanding CNN’s Unduplicated Cross-Media Audience Footprint

As one of the first adopters of Comscore Xmedia, CNN is an ideal initial case study because the brand has a substantial audience footprint on TV, desktop and mobile. While CNN of course delivers video across each of these channels, this particular analysis goes beyond video to include audiences that visit any content under the CNN banner: on digital, that means any visitor to the CNN website and/or mobile app.

In total, we see that in the month of December, CNN had a total unduplicated audience of 174 million people. TV represented the largest audience at 117 million, followed by mobile at 56 million and desktop at 43 million. Also importantly, and as illustrated in the chart below, we can see that these three media platforms are represented by seven distinct audience segments depending on which combination of media they accessed. In fact, about 37 million – more than 1 in 5 viewers of CNN content – accessed on multiple platforms.

*Not all values in chart will sum due to rounding to nearest million.

This unduplicated measurement of media across multiple platforms helps media companies demonstrate the value of their audiences and use that information to develop more compelling advertising packages. As an example, we looked at CNN’s unduplicated audience reach within a few particularly valuable demographic segments – 25-54 year-olds and 18-34 year-olds (i.e. “Millennials”). The data showed that CNN posted very high reach of these audiences – 61% in both cases – with digital platforms representing a very important media touchpoint for these audiences.

Absent a holistic view of CNN’s audience reach, an advertiser would have to plan their media buys in silos and would not have a comprehensive means of understanding audience reach. They might also need to plan their buys against a variety of different media that don’t (1) build unduplicated reach of a particular target audience as efficiently, (2) deliver the same operational efficiency, or (3) provide the same cost efficiency.

We are moving in the direction of a more integrated media buying and planning process, and the linchpin of this effort will be unduplicated measurement of audiences across multiple platforms. In this year’s Upfront, CNN is using Xmedia to demonstrate its value as a strong cross-media brand.

To find out more about CNN’s cross-media audience: download the report today