SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — In the streaming era, viewers have more choices than ever. Advertisers have more confusion too.
Sean Cunningham, president, CEO of the Video Advertising Bureau, says the industry has spent years debating what “premium video” really means. His answer: stop arguing and start measuring where people are actually looking.
“We wanted to get scientific about the question of prolonged meaningful attention in video,” Cunningham said in an interview with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at the Beet Retreat San Juan.
The group recently partnered with TVision on a year-long study tracking how viewers watch connected TV across 22 platforms. Instead of relying on surveys or self-reported viewing habits, the research used eye-tracking technology to measure what people really were doing in front of the screen.
“These weren’t poll questions,” Cunningham said. “This was human behavior. We were able to see whether someone’s eyes were on the screen and how long they stayed there.”
The study analyzed platforms spanning subscription services, ad-supported streaming and FAST channels including Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, Roku and Tubi.
The result was a report the VAB titled “The Impression Gap,” which argues that not all impressions deliver the same level of attention or advertising value.
Why impressions are not created equal
Streaming platforms often compete for bragging rights based on reach or viewing share. Cunningham said those metrics do not always reveal whether audiences are actually paying attention.
“There’s this idea that premium is in the eye of the beholder,” he said. “But that thinking can lead to the commoditization of impressions.”
By measuring eye-tracking data across the platforms, the study found meaningful differences in attention. According to Cunningham, 18 of the 22 platforms studied showed longer attention duration than YouTube when ads appeared.
“That paints a completely different picture than some of the prevailing sentiment in the industry,” he said, noting that detailed behavioral research of this kind had not previously existed at scale.
Attention is first step to advertising value
For marketers, Cunningham argues the debate about impressions misses the bigger goal. Advertising works when it changes behavior, not just when an ad appears on a screen.
“The ultimate definition of value is whether premium attention translates into lift,” he said. “Does it modify consumer behavior? Does it build long-term loyalty?”
Still, that outcome depends on something more basic: attention in the first place.
“In order to understand how many productive leads you can put into a sales channel, you first have to understand the attention around the content and the messaging,” Cunningham said.
Completion rates and impressions still have a role, he added, but the duration of real viewing matters more.
Cheap reach may not deliver brand growth
One of the enduring tensions in advertising is whether marketers should chase low-cost reach or pay more for higher-quality exposure. Cunningham offered a blunt answer.
“Buying cheap reach is how you don’t get sales growth and brand growth,” he said.
Instead, he argued, advertisers should focus on how effectively media moves consumers into the middle of the purchase funnel. That includes actions such as searching for a brand or visiting a website after seeing an ad.
“To me, the higher value is the ability to modify consumer behavior at scale,” Cunningham said. “That means moving a large number of productive leads into a sales channel.”
A hierarchy of attention emerges
The research also suggests that different types of video environments generate different levels of engagement. Cunningham said the data revealed a “hierarchy of attention” across the 22 platforms studied.
Metrics such as co-viewing, session length and sustained eye contact all play a role in determining value.
“When you have someone’s attention and you see that eyes-on duration, that’s worth a lot more,” he said.
The study found wide variation in those measures. In co-viewing, for example, YouTube ranked 19th among the platforms studied, placing it in the lowest performance tier in that category.
“That resets the price-value relationship,” Cunningham said. “It changes what should be considered worth paying for.”
In other words, the streaming wars may be fought with content libraries and subscription deals. But behind the scenes, Cunningham suggests, the real battle may come down to a much simpler question: are viewers actually watching the screen, or just pretending to while they scroll their phones.
You’re watching coverage from Beet Retreat San Juan 2026, presented by Alliant and TransUnion. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
