The Video Advertising Bureau published research this month showing that Black Americans engage with TV and streaming content at measurably higher emotional and behavioral levels than with leading social media platforms - findings that carry direct implications for how brands allocate budgets against a consumer segment projected to hold $2 trillion in buying power by 2026.

The VAB's "Unite, Empower, Reflect, Shop" report, distributed on June 19, 2026, draws on a custom survey conducted in partnership with Hub Entertainment Research as part of its 2023 Video Redefined study. The underlying data comes from online surveys of 1,900 consumers between the ages of 13 and 74, collected in December 2023. Black respondents numbered 228 on an unweighted basis. The research compares emotional reactions, engagement behaviors, and downstream consumer actions triggered by TV and streaming content against those triggered by TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

The report follows two earlier VAB studies in the same methodological series - one focused on Gen Z and one on Hispanic audiences - both of which reached broadly consistent conclusions about the relative strength of premium video versus social platforms in generating emotional resonance and purchase-related behavior.

A $2 trillion market that most media plans underinvest in

The demographic context behind the research is significant. According to Pew Research Center data from January 2024, approximately 48 million Black Americans are currently living in the United States - a figure representing a 32% increase compared to 2000. Projected buying power for this group is estimated to reach $2 trillion by 2026, up from an estimated $1.8 trillion by 2025, according to Nielsen's February 2024 report "Nielsen report shows growing demand for investment in more diverse media content to engage Black America."

The scale matters because media spending against Black audiences has historically lagged behind their share of the population and their economic weight. Nielsen's January 2026 annual Diverse Intelligence Series report found that 67% of Black consumers pay more attention to advertising in media that reflects their culture, compared to 46% of the general population. The same research found 70% would stop buying from brands they perceived as devaluing their community.

The VAB's custom study approaches this commercial question from the content side, testing which media environments actually generate the emotional states and behavioral responses that advertising needs to work.

The methodology: premium video versus social platforms

The research framework distinguishes between two categories of content. Premium video - defined as high-quality, professionally produced content on trusted linear TV networks or streaming services - is contrasted against short-form video typical of social platforms, which the study characterizes as produced by digital-native creators, online and offline media brands, or everyday social media users.

The TV and streaming category in the research includes platforms such as Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, BET, OWN, TV One, allblk, CBS, ABC, NBC, Prime Video, Disney+, Peacock, Paramount+, Peacock, Fubo, Pluto TV, and Discovery+, among others. The social platforms studied are TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Survey questions were structured across three broad categories: emotional reactions to content, engagement behaviors during and after viewing, and specific actions taken as a result of content exposure across categories including retail, restaurants, food, home improvement, and music.

Black audiences spend significantly more time with media

Before examining the emotional and behavioral findings, the research establishes a baseline through Nielsen data. According to Nielsen's February 2024 report "Creating connections with Black Americans across media," Black adults aged 18 and over spend an average of 81 hours and 13 minutes per week with total media - compared to 69 hours and 22 minutes for the general population aged 18 and over. That differential is 17%.

Within that total, TV use - encompassing live programming, time-shifted viewing, and connected television - accounts for 44 hours and 32 minutes per week among Black adults 18 and over, compared to 32 hours and 18 minutes for the general adult population. Black adults therefore spend 38% more time with television than the average American adult. TV's share of total media time stands at 55% for Black adults 18 and over, against 47% for the general adult population.

Among younger Black viewers aged 18 to 34, the pattern holds. This group spends 60 hours and 2 minutes per week with all media, versus 52 hours and 16 minutes for the general 18-to-34 population - a 15% gap. TV use in this younger cohort averages 25 hours and 13 minutes weekly, compared to 18 hours and 14 minutes for the broader 18-to-34 population - a 38% difference, identical to the gap observed in the adult population overall.

Hub Entertainment Research's "Video Redefined" study from January 2024, which surveyed 1,900 consumers aged 13 to 74 with data collected in December 2023, found that Black audiences who also watch non-premium video spend 23.1 hours per week watching TV and movies, compared to 15.5 hours on non-premium video platforms such as YouTube and user-generated content on social networks. LG Ad Solutions' September 2025 Inclusive Screen research documented that 68% of Black CTV users prefer free ad-supported streaming over paid subscriptions - 21% higher engagement than the average CTV viewer - reinforcing the structural importance of this audience for ad-supported video platforms.

Why this matters: emotion as the driver of advertising impact

The VAB frames its theoretical argument around what it calls the shift from production value to emotional connectionas the defining characteristic of premium content. The organization notes that industry shorthand has historically equated premium with production cost - more expensive programming was simply deemed more premium. Its reading of the research suggests a different mechanism is at work.

According to Kantar's March 2023 report "Harness the power of emotion in digital advertising," aligning advertisements with emotionally resonant content can quadruple their effectiveness in creating impact and building brand equity. The VAB cites this finding alongside its own custom research to argue that TV and streaming's advantage over social platforms lies not only in production quality but in its capacity to generate stronger emotional states in viewers - states that increase receptivity to the advertising surrounding that content.

The qualitative distinction between premium video and user-generated content, according to the VAB framework, includes five factors: high production quality, complex character development, emotional storytelling, a brand-safe environment, and content duration. These characteristics, the argument goes, create conditions for deeper viewer investment that short-form social content structurally cannot replicate.

Adriana Waterston, Executive VP of Insights and Strategy at Horowitz Research, is quoted in the VAB report: "Black viewers are among the most valuable for media brands because historically they are much more likely to spend more time with media and entertainment."

The emotional gap: laughter, joy, and tears

The VAB's custom survey data quantifies the emotional differential with notable precision. Among Black viewers, 52% say something they watched on TV or streaming has "made me laugh out loud." The comparative figures for social platforms are 37% for TikTok, 19% for Snapchat, 35% for Instagram, 35% for Facebook, and 51% for YouTube. That places Black viewers 42% more likely to have laughed from TV or streaming than from TikTok, 175% more likely than from Snapchat, 50% more likely than from Instagram, and 51% more likely than from Facebook.

The pattern extends to more intense emotional states. Among Black viewers, 30% say TV or streaming content has "made me feel overjoyed." For Snapchat, the equivalent figure is 12% - making Black viewers 159% more likely to feel overjoyed from TV or streaming than from Snapchat content. The TikTok comparison yields a 42% gap, Instagram a 65% gap. Notably, YouTube at 31% essentially matches TV and streaming for this particular measure.

On the more striking end of the emotional spectrum, 28% of Black viewers say TV or streaming has "brought me to tears." The comparison with Snapchat is extreme: only 5% of Black viewers report being moved to tears by Snapchat content, making the TV and streaming figure 425% higher. Against TikTok at 13%, the TV and streaming advantage is 123%. Against Instagram at 7%, it is 313%. Against Facebook at 16%, it is 77%. Against YouTube at 17%, it is 66%.

The anger dimension produces similar results. Twenty-six percent of Black viewers say TV or streaming content has "made them angry or upset." TikTok produces this reaction in 14% of the same group. The TV and streaming figure is 95% higher than TikTok, 199% higher than Snapchat, and 91% higher than Instagram.

Deeper personal connections and the social dimension

The emotional findings are accompanied by relational ones. Among Black viewers, 31% say they "feel personally connected to a character or personality" from TV or streaming content. For Snapchat, the corresponding figure is 9% - a 266% gap. Against TikTok at 15%, the advantage is 117%. Against Instagram at 18%, it is 80%.

Sharing behavior captures a related dimension. Twenty-five percent of Black viewers say they have "tried to convince a friend to watch a TV show, movie or video" from TV or streaming. Compared to Snapchat at 7%, Black viewers are 284% more likely to recommend TV and streaming content. Compared to TikTok at 18% and Instagram at 18%, the figure is 41% and 42% higher respectively. YouTube, at 25%, matches TV and streaming almost exactly.

Forty-five percent of Black viewers "regularly set aside time in their schedule to watch their favorite TV or streaming content" - a behavior the VAB categorizes as appointment viewing. Against TikTok at 22%, Black viewers are 110% more likely to engage in appointment viewing for TV and streaming. Against Snapchat at 18%, the gap is 153%.

Community viewing is another dimension where the research finds consistent differentials. Thirty-eight percent of Black viewers say they "enjoy the quality time they share with friends and family" while watching TV or streaming. Against Snapchat at 10%, this figure is 266% higher. Against TikTok at 14%, it is 181% higher. A VAB and TVision study covering July 2024 through June 2025 found that co-viewing - the percentage of total impressions occurring with another viewer in the room - stood at 60% for premium video platforms, compared to 45% for YouTube.

The online extension of this communal engagement is documented through two metrics. Twenty-two percent of Black viewers say they "visit websites, forums and blogs" when watching TV or streaming, compared to 16% for TikTok - a 38% advantage. Twenty percent share, post, or tweet opinions or clips during TV and streaming viewing, compared to 16% for TikTok - a 25% advantage.

From engagement to purchase: the action layer

The research does not stop at emotional and behavioral metrics. It extends into specific consumer actions triggered by TV and streaming content across retail, food service, food and consumer packaged goods, home improvement, and music.

In fashion and retail, 14% of Black consumers say they have "modeled their personal style after an actor or personality" from TV or streaming. Compared to TikTok at 12%, Black consumers are 22% more likely to have taken this step. Against YouTube at 9%, they are 53% more likely.

For restaurants, 20% of Black consumers say they have "eaten at a restaurant because a chef, owner, or author was featured" in TV or streaming. Against TikTok at 16%, they are 25% more likely to have made this visit. Against Instagram at 15%, the advantage is 32%.

In food and CPG, 29% of Black consumers say they have "been inspired to make a food recipe" from TV or streaming content. Against Snapchat at 18%, they are 63% more likely. Against Instagram at 23%, the gap is 31%.

For home improvement, 18% of Black consumers report having "completed a home improvement project inspired" by TV or streaming content. Compared to Snapchat at 9%, they are 92% more likely to have undertaken such a project. Against TikTok at 11%, the gap is 67%.

The music and cultural dimension shows 23% of Black consumers have "listened to or purchased songs because they were featured" in TV or streaming content. Against Snapchat at 13%, they are 77% more likely to have taken this action. Against TikTok at 19%, the figure is 24% higher.

What this means for media planning

The research lands in a media environment where programmatic targeting against diverse audiences is receiving considerable industry attention. Culture Hive Media Group's April 2026 launch of its Cultural Relevance Scoreintroduced an AI-powered metric for measuring how closely advertising creative and placements align with the cultural values of specific communities - a direct response to what the company frames as a longstanding gap between demographic reach and cultural resonance.

An August 2024 LG Ad Solutions report on Black CTV users documented that 44% of Black CTV viewers ranked the TV home screen as their primary source of content recommendations, and that 68% prefer free ad-supported streaming over paid subscriptions. That FAST-leaning behavior sits alongside the VAB's June 2026 streaming report, which found ad-supported streaming time grew 24% year on year while ad-free streaming time fell 26%.

The structural argument the VAB data supports is that premium video - spanning linear television, streaming services, and connected TV - generates distinctly different audience conditions than social platforms. The emotional depth of those reactions, the communal nature of the viewing experience, and the downstream purchase behaviors documented in this research all point in the same direction. That argument complements the VAB and TVision "Impression Gap" report from February 2026, which found premium video sessions averaged 1 hour and 18 minutes compared to YouTube's 52 minutes on CTV.

The key marketer takeaways that the VAB draws from its own research are direct. According to VAB, TV and streaming content is more emotionally resonant to Black audiences than social platforms, as they form personal connections and strong bonds to storylines and characters while actively uniting others to watch content that reflects their collective cultural identity, community, and experiences. Additionally, TV and streaming content has a significant impact on the shopping behaviors of Black consumers across key categories including retail apparel and fashion, restaurants, consumer packaged goods, home, and popular culture.

The 90% figure from SambaTV's June 2024 "State of Diversity" report - the share of Black audiences who agree that having diverse representation is important when choosing what content to watch - provides the context for why this matters. Cultural resonance is not incidental to effectiveness for this audience segment. It is structural.

Timeline

Summary

Who: The Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), a trade organization representing premium video advertising, in partnership with Hub Entertainment Research, published findings focused on Black American media audiences. The research draws on data from Pew Research Center, Nielsen, Horowitz Research, SambaTV, and Kantar, among others.

What: The report "Unite, Empower, Reflect, Shop: How TV and Streaming Cultivate Richer Interactions with Black Audiences Than Social Media" documents that Black viewers show substantially higher rates of emotional engagement, behavioral response, and consumer action when exposed to TV and streaming content compared to leading social platforms including TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Key figures include 52% of Black viewers laughing out loud from TV and streaming (versus 37% for TikTok), 45% engaging in appointment viewing (versus 22% for TikTok), and measurable downstream purchase behavior across fashion, food, home, restaurants, and music.

When: The survey data was collected in December 2023 from 1,900 consumers, including 228 Black respondents. The VAB distributed its promotional communication about the report on June 19, 2026.

Where: The research covers media consumption behaviors among Black American adults and teenagers across the United States, comparing engagement on national linear TV networks and streaming platforms against social media platforms operating nationally.

Why: The research addresses a documented gap between the economic significance of Black American consumers - projected $2 trillion in buying power by 2026, per Nielsen - and the advertising investment directed at them. The VAB presents the emotional and behavioral data as evidence that premium video environments generate meaningfully different audience conditions than social platforms, supporting a case for increased advertiser investment in TV and streaming inventory that reaches Black viewers.