Thinkbox
Here you can get the headline facts and figures for the key TV buying audiences, from their universe size to daily and weekly commercial reach.
When choosing an audience to target with TV advertising, advertisers can define it by gender, social class and age at a national or regional level. The total number of people in this audience is then known as the universe.
There are a huge number of possible target audiences that can be measured, however the number that can be used to trade TV is much smaller and so one of the key tasks when planning a TV campaign is to identify which audience should be traded in order to reach the target audience most efficiently and access the desired programming.
Should an advertiser have a specific target audience that cannot be traded on TV then it is common practise to convert to a trading/buying audience that will give them access to the best performing and most appropriate TV channels and programmes for their target audience.
So, for example, a brand may want to reach a target audience of adults 55+. This isn’t a traded audience so converting to a trading (or buying) audience of ABC1 Adults is likely to give that campaign access to the best suited and performing programmes for adults 55+.
Below you can see some of the profiles of different buying audiences and you can download the PowerPoint version by clicking on the download button on the top of the page.
Audience profiles
| Audience | Universe | Hours of total TV per day | Hours of commercial TV per day | Daily commercial reach (3min) | Weekly commercial reach (3min) | Average profile | % of Commercial TV live |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individuals | 60,991,246 | 2 hours, 18 mins | 1 hours, 31 mins | 46.1% | 70.7% | 100% | 78% |
| Adults | 51,875,760 | 2 hours, 37 mins | 1 hours, 44 mins | 50.6% | 74.2% | 85% | 78% |
| ABC1 Adults | 29,100,180 | 2 hours, 5 mins | 1 hours, 16 mins | 46.2% | 72.1% | 48% | 75% |
| 16-34 Adults | 14,267,839 | 41 mins | 28 mins | 24.4% | 52.5% | 23% | 62% |
| Men | 25,029,508 | 2 hours, 31 mins | 1 hours, 40 mins | 49.3% | 73.2% | 41% | 79% |
| ABC1 Men | 13,862,691 | 2 hours | 1 hours, 13 mins | 45.1% | 71.2% | 23% | 76% |
| 16-34 Men | 7,067,891 | 38 mins | 27 mins | 22.4% | 50.0% | 12% | 64% |
| C2DE Men | 11,166,936 | 3 hours, 11 mins | 2 hours, 15 mins | 54.5% | 75.7% | 18% | 81% |
| Women | 26,846,286 | 2 hours, 42 mins | 1 hours, 47 mins | 51.8% | 75.1% | 44% | 78% |
| ABC1 Women | 15,237,382 | 2 hours, 10 mins | 1 hours, 19 mins | 47.2% | 72.9% | 25% | 74% |
| 16-34 Women | 7,199,965 | 44 mins | 29 mins | 26.4% | 55.0% | 12% | 59% |
| C2DE Women | 11,608,904 | 3 hours, 23 mins | 2 hours, 24 mins | 57.7% | 77.9% | 19% | 80% |
| Housepersons | 27,181,426 | 3 hours, 11 mins | 2 hours, 8 mins | 57.0% | 78.8% | 45% | 80% |
| ABC1 Housepersons | 14,755,609 | 2 hours, 29 mins | 1 hours, 31 mins | 51.7% | 76.6% | 24% | 75% |
| Houseperson & Children | 6,783,223 | 1 hours, 25 mins | 57 mins | 40.2% | 68.7% | 11% | 70% |
| Children | 9,115,415 | 33 mins | 21 mins | 20.7% | 50.8% | 15% | 70% |
Source: Barb, 2024. Consolidated 7-day TV set viewing.
