Is TV advertising still useful? Value, form, advertising strategy, and effectiveness evaluation

Have you noticed a very strange phenomenon—— 
On one hand, the argument that "no one is watching TV anymore" has repeatedly flooded the social media, while on the other hand, the most savvy advertisers such as Coca Cola, BMW, and Procter&Gamble are still spending a lot of money during prime time on CCTV and major TV stations. 
Who is wrong? It's all right. 
The person who says' no one is watching TV 'is looking at the startup rate. Twenty years ago, the operating rate of Chinese home televisions was 70%; Today, this number has indeed dropped below 30%. 
And those who continue to invest in television advertisements are counting on another account: credibility, breadth of coverage, and exclusivity of family scenes - these abilities have become increasingly scarce and expensive core assets of television media in the fragmented digital age. 
For novice marketers, the four words' television advertising 'carry too many outdated stereotypes. You think it's expensive, but in fact, it also has terrestrial channels priced at a few thousand yuan per level; You think it's tacky, but in fact, it has been interacting with mobile screens for a long time; You think it can't be measured, but in fact, its current level of accuracy has exceeded most people's understanding. 
This guide is not meant to convince you that 'TV commercials must be submitted'. On the contrary, it is designed to help you establish a sufficiently objective decision-making framework, allowing you to know how to invest most effectively when needed; Know why you don't invest when you don't need it. 

Chapter 1: Re understanding Television Advertising - It's Not the Thing You Remember Anymore 
Before discussing 'how to invest', a cognitive refresh must be completed first. 
Today's TV advertisement is a combination of three websites. 
The first network: traditional cable television. 
Including CCTV, satellite TV, and terrestrial channels. Its core feature is linear live streaming - where the program is broadcasted, the advertisement follows. The target audience covered by this website is mainly middle-aged, elderly, and family users, with a high level of trust, which is the cornerstone of building brand credibility. 
The second network: IPTV. 
The television services provided by telecommunications operators have surpassed the user base of traditional cable services. Its core feature is bidirectional interaction - it can be played on demand, replayed, and paused. This means that advertisements can also be targeted. The IPTV startup advertisement you invested in Pudong New Area of Shanghai and the one invested in Puxi can be two completely different brands. 
The third network: OTT. 
That is to say, smart TV. Xiaomi, Hisense, Skyworth, Sony, along with various TV boxes. The core feature of this website is the Internet - with user ID and behavioral data, it can make programmed purchase, even pay for exposure. It covers the youngest audience and has the strongest interaction ability, making it the golden channel for brands to reach the new middle class. 
These three networks, sharing the same screen, are three completely different media species. 
That's why 'Is TV advertising still useful?' is a pseudo question. The correct question is: For my brand, target audience, and budget, which website should I choose, how should I combine them, and how much should I invest? 
Chapter 2: The Four Irreplaceable Values of Television Advertising 
In the era of information dust in 2026, television advertising still cannot be replaced, relying on these four trump cards. 
The first trump card: credibility premium. 
Internet advertising can be faked, screen swiping can be bought, and the comment area can be controlled. But 30 seconds before and after the CCTV News of CCTV, the patches of the Golden Theater of Oriental Satellite TV, and the title of the flagship variety show of Hunan Satellite TV - these things, money can buy position, but not trust. 
The essence of television advertising is that it is a wholesaler of social consensus. It tells consumers that this brand is officially recognized, accepted by the mainstream, and worthy of trust. This kind of psychological account recharge cannot be provided by any information flow advertisement. 
The second trump card: exclusivity in family settings. 
Mobile phones are personal belongings, while televisions are household public goods. 
A man was brushing Tiktok on the sofa, and the husband, children and parents sitting beside him were all looking at their small screens. But when he picks up the remote control and turns on the TV, the whole family's gaze will converge in the same direction. 
Maternal and child products, automobiles, home decoration, tourism, and large household appliances - these categories require joint decision-making by families, and television advertising is the only medium that can wash the entire family's minds synchronously before the decision is made. 
The third trump card: Phenomenon level detonation ability. 
An information flow advertisement that you can swipe away. An elevator advertisement, you can look down without looking at it. 
But a TV advertisement aired before the halftime of the World Cup final, the countdown to the Spring Festival Gala, and the finale of a popular TV series - you are the "pause button" shared by audiences across the country. 
In addition to TV, only WeChat and Tiktok's head events can barely reach the ability to create national topics in an instant. But the price of the latter is no longer cheaper than television. 
The fourth trump card: the sedimentation effect of brand assets. 
Search advertising stops, traffic immediately drops to zero. The e-commerce direct delivery service stopped trading, and orders were immediately cut in half. 
But with the suspension of television advertising, the brand's accumulated recognition, reputation, and trust over the past few years will not disappear overnight. It is like a slowly depositing iceberg, and melting also takes a long time. 
This is brand asset. Television advertising is one of the few media that can truly accumulate assets for a brand, rather than just consuming a budget. 
Chapter 3: Five Step Decision making Method for Television Advertising Placement 
If you have decided to include television advertising in your budget, the next question is how to invest. 
Step 1: Clarify your core goals. 
Brand Goal: Enhance visibility, establish trust, and showcase strength. Prioritize prime time for CCTV and top tier TV stations. 
Regional goal: Deeply cultivate a province or city. Priority should be given to provincial satellite TV, terrestrial channels, and IPTV regional targeting. 
Target audience: reach young people and the new middle class. Prioritize OTT startup ads and smart TV on-demand patches. 
Effect objective: Obtain sales leads and guide e-commerce conversion. Prioritize interactive advertising, QR code stickers, and OTT programmatic purchases. 
Step 2: Calculate your actual budget. 
Many beginners are discouraged by the stereotype that TV commercials are expensive, but in fact, today's TV commercials are a matter of personal preference. 
The CCTV News of CCTV fell one step ahead and started with 300000 yuan each, which was a firework for the giant. 
But during non prime time on a provincial-level terrestrial channel, a 15 second interstitial advertisement can be broadcasted for a week for a few thousand yuan. 
IPTV startup advertisements can be targeted by region, and you only want to cover 200000 households in Pudong New Area, which can be achieved with a budget of 100000. 
OTT advertising can be bid by audience, and if you only want to promote ads to families who have recently searched for "milk powder", you can try it out for 5000 yuan. 
The threshold for television advertising is no longer a natural barrier, but a ladder that progresses layer by layer. You don't need to step to the top, just find the level within your reach. 
Step 3: Choose the right form, not the most expensive form. 
Both are television advertisements, serving different purposes in different forms. 
Hard and rough, suitable for new product launches and big promotions. 
Content implantation: Smooth and silent, suitable for brand storytelling and emotional communication. 
Title sponsorship: Strong binding, suitable for long-term market share and category blockade. 
Startup advertisement: Strong exclusivity, suitable for high-end image building and major releases. 
Interactive advertising: Strong conversion, suitable for scanning QR codes to attract traffic and promoting new activities. 
There is no best form, only the form that best suits your current goal. 
Step 4: Calculate the account of the effect. 
The evaluation of the effectiveness of television advertising has gone through three eras. 
1.0 Era: Watch ratings. GRP、CPRP、 Arrival rate and frequency distribution. This system is still in use, but it is becoming increasingly inadequate. 
2.0 era: Look at search index. Does the Baidu Index rise when TV is broadcasted? Is the WeChat index rising or not? This has been the most mainstream evaluation method in the past decade. 
3.0 Era: Look at Back Link Data. IPTV and OTT advertisements can directly track exposure, clicks, and even in store and order placement. Traditional TV+QR code can also partially achieve effect attribution. 
The era you belong to depends on which website you choose. 
Step 5: Find the right partner. 
The chain of TV advertising is much longer than that of Internet advertising. Any mistake in the process of media negotiation, scheduling locking, material submission for review, monitoring and acceptance, and performance review may result in the previous efforts being in vain. 
Tianci Media is a professional television advertising placement company, whose core capability is not to "sell time slots", but to help advertisers find the optimal resource allocation plan between CCTV, satellite TV, terrestrial channels, IPTV, and OTT. 
You don't need to connect with more than a dozen media sales outlets yourself, study the discount systems for publication prices on various platforms, or worry about materials being returned for review. All you need to do is clarify your goals, budget, and target audience. 
The rest, they will help you assemble a complete battle map. 
Chapter 4: Four cognitive misconceptions that beginners must avoid 
Misconception 1: Equating television advertising with "going to satellite TV". 
This is the most common and expensive misconception among beginners. 
TV advertising is a spectrum, with one end being the countdown to CCTV Spring Festival Gala and the other end being the late night time slot of county-level TV stations. There are countless gray areas in the middle, corresponding to countless combinations of budgets, goals, and audiences. 
If you only focus on the most expensive option, you will miss the entire category. 
Misconception 2: Underestimating the value of startup ads and treating them as "psoriasis of TV screens". 
By 2026, startup advertising for smart TVs has become a recognized entry ticket for high-end brands. 
Why? Because it cannot be skipped or blocked, 100% forced viewing. In today's media environment where users can swipe away, double speed, and block at any time, this is an extremely luxurious attention resource. 
Startup advertising is not psoriasis, it is a war that your brand must win in the first second when users turn on the TV. 
Misconception 3: Using the ROI logic of e-commerce direct traffic to demand instant conversion of TV advertisements. 
The essence of television advertising is a slow variable. It doesn't pursue you to finish reading tonight and place an order tomorrow morning. It pursues three months or six months later, when you see two similar brands on the supermarket shelf at the same time, your hand unconsciously reaches out to it. 
Putting TV commercials into the ROI model of the through train for calculation is equivalent to measuring the depth of seawater with a vernier caliper. The tool is wrong, the conclusion is completely skewed. 
Misconception 4: Ignoring creativity and treating TV commercials as "moving detail pages". 
This is the biggest waste of television advertising. 
30 seconds of time, the first 5 seconds didn't capture attention, and the last 25 seconds were all wasted. But a large number of beginners are still doing the same thing: reading the selling point list on the e-commerce detail page word for word, accompanied by a 360 degree close-up of the product rotation. 
TV commercials are not brochures, they are trailers. Its task is not to tell users' what we have ', but to generate their interest in' I want to know more '. 
Conclusion: TV commercials are worth getting to know again 
Returning to the question at the beginning: Is TV advertising still useful? 
If you are asking about the TV commercials from 30 years ago that were sold out as soon as they appeared on CCTV, they do not exist anymore. 
But if you're asking about the home screen ecosystem that will be overlaid by traditional TV, IPTV, and OTT networks by 2026- it's not only useful, but also an increasingly scarce and valuable strategic medium. 
Its credibility cannot be replicated by digital traffic. 
Its home scene cannot be replaced by personal screens. 
Its explosive power cannot be foreseen by algorithm recommendations. 
Its asset accumulation effect is beyond the reach of effective advertising. 
Television advertising has not declined, it has just evolved into something you don't know. 
For beginners who have just entered the industry, the biggest risk is not that "investing in TV commercials is ineffective", but because of outdated biases and skipping a powerful tool that could have been used for you. 
Tianci Media is a professional television advertising placement company. If you have any questions about this familiar yet unfamiliar medium, they can provide a complete cognitive refresh service - no anxiety, no chicken soup, just help you figure out: what role should TV advertising play, how much money should be spent, and how to invest based on your marketing goals for this year. 
After all, when others are taking a detour due to prejudice, the scenery and opportunities on that road are often the best. 
Now, let's get to know TV commercials again.