Every week, according to Nielsen, 555,000 adult consumers in Wilmington, Delaware watch something on television. But, of course, the definition of what it means to watch TV has changed since the time when the number of available viewing options could be counted on the fingers of a single hand.

Today, Wilmington consumers have a gargantuan number of viewing choices. This includes programs from stations like WDPN, WPPX, KYW, WCAU, and WHYY. Or maybe cable and satellite systems like Xfinity, DISH, DirecTV, and Verizon FIOS. There's also content delivered over the internet from Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Disney+, and Amazon Prime.

No longer are Wilmington consumers tied to the 21-inch Zenith in their living rooms. Instead, TV can be watched on giant LCDs, smartphones, and tablets from any room in the house, in the backseat of their cars, or practically anywhere else.

The best way to think about TV watching in Wilmington is in terms of three buckets:

1. Over-the-air...including all broadcast channels
2. Cable...including all premium and non-premium programming
3. Internet...including all streaming services. This is also known as OTT or CTV

Here's how many Wilmington adult viewers fall into each bucket. Remember, viewers are not limited to a single bucket.

In 2020, there were 31,876 new cars and trucks registered in the Wilmington metro area. This number is based on projections from the National Auto Dealers Associaton (NADA) and the U.S. Census bureau.

In all, says NADA, there are 53 new-car dealerships in Delaware. Despite the pandemic, these dealers, including those in the Wilmington area, sold $3 billion worth of new vehicles.

Through June of this year, these same dealers have already rung up $1.6 billion in new car sales.

When it comes to buying new vehicles, Wilmington consumers have a broad range of preferences. Some buyers want Fords while others want Chevrolets, Toyotas, or Teslas.  Some buyers want pick-up trucks, while others want sub-compacts, SUVs, or sports cars. Of course, some want blue vehicles, while others want pearl white, orchard green, or redolent red.

There is one purchase criterion, however, that most Wilmington car buyers can agree on. They want an AM/FM radio smack-dab, in the middle of their dash.

Every month, 417,513 adults in the Wilmington, Delaware area use social media, according to Nielsen. Seventy-two percent of these consumers use Facebook, far more than other sites like Instagram (also owned by Facebook), Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

As a stand-alone medium, Facebook is used by more people in Wilmington than watch local TV stations. Only Wilmington area radio and local cable reach more consumers.

The large audience commanded by social media has attracted a significant amount of advertising dollars from local advertisers. According to Borrell Associates, a company that measures advertising expenditures across the county, Wilmington area businesses are expected to spend $68 million on social media advertising, a 29.8% increase over 2022. The overwhelming majority of these dollars are being spent with Facebook.

Yesterday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the company was changing its name to "Meta".  This change, though, only affects the name of the parent company. There will be no change to the company's brands like Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp.

How will this name change affect Wilmington businesses that advertise on Facebook?

Attention Wilmington, Delaware small business owners and retailers: nearly half of holiday shoppers are already spending money. According to the National Retail Federation, 49% of consumers will start their Christmas season shopping before Hallowe'en. 

Consumers plan to spend $997.73 on gifts, holiday items, and other non-gift purchases for themselves and their families this year, according to the annual survey released today by the NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics.

In all, based on forecasts from Deloitte, the world's largest accounting firm, Wilmington consumers are expected to spend between $2.8 and $2.9 billion during the holiday shopping period. This would be a 7-9% increase over 2020.

"We anticipate strong consumer spending for the upcoming holiday season. As vaccination rates rise and consumers are more comfortable being outside of the home, we are likely to see increased spending on services, including restaurants and travel, while spending on goods will continue to hold steady. A steady decline in the savings rate to pre-pandemic levels will support consumer spending and keep retail sales elevated this season," said Daniel Bachman, Deloitte's U.S. economic forecaster. "Further, e-commerce sales will continue to grow as consumers demonstrate an ongoing and steady movement toward buying online across all categories."

Wilmington retailers are noticing that the opening bell for holiday shopping has rung earlier than ever for local shoppers.

Wilmington, Delaware consumers are on track to spend more than $10.2 billion at retail this year, based on projections by the National Retail Federation (NRF). Spending is expected to be 13.5% higher than last year.  

Some Wilmington small business owners, though, are wondering if the spread of the Delta Variant may slow spending if consumers sense pressure on their own financial security. Shoppers, however, don't see it that way.

New research from Nielsen indicates that 82% of consumers believe their household finances will either remain the same or improve during the upcoming months.

The Nielsen study has another finding that Wilmington business owners will find promising. Consumers are more likely to shop locally than they did before the onset of the pandemic, although in different ways.

According to Nielsen, 121,300 Wilmington, Delaware consumers listened to or downloaded a podcast during the past 30 days. This is 21.2% of the adult population.

A podcast is a downloadable digital audio file available to listeners on an internet-connected device like a smartphone, tablet, or computer. These files are typically part of series focusing on a particular theme such as true crime, professional football, politics, or pop culture.

Wilmington consumers can listen to their favorite podcasts whenever they choose using apps like Spotify, Pandora, Google, and Stitcher. The most used podcasting app, though, is Apple Podcasts.

Research from PodcastHosing.org indicates that Wilmington consumers can access more than 2,000,000 podcast series comprising over 48,000,000 unique episodes. According to data compiled by Edison research, the top 10 podcasts during the second quarter of 2021 were:

Since 1922 when WDEL-AM signed on, local small business owners have been advertising on Wilmington, Delaware radio to market the goods and services they sell.

Lately, some of these advertisers are voicing concerns, though, that the accelerating use of smart speakers could erode the effectiveness of commercials on local stations. Current research, however, reveals that these devices actually extend the reach of the medium and its ad content.

More than 174,000 consumers in Wilmington have a smart speaker in their homes, according to Nielsen. This is 30.5% of the local adult population.

Smart speakers are internet-enabled devices controlled by spoken commands and capable of streaming audio content, relaying information, and communicating with other devices. 

According to the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) data, Amazon Echo (aka Alexa) accounts for 69% of all smart speakers in use. Google's smart speaker makes up another 20% of the market. The remaining 11% of the market comprises Apple Home (aka Siri), Sonos, and Bose.

Wilmington consumers can use their smart speakers to accomplish a diverse range of tasks, including accessing news, weather, and sports information; turning on lights in the house; shopping; and food delivery.

The most common use of a smart speaker, though, is streaming audio, including Wilmington radio stations, according to eMarketer. Edison Research's Share of Ear Study indicates that consumers devote 13% of their total time using a smart speaker listening to AM/FM radio stations. This is second only to the time spent listening to Amazon Music at 19%.

Wilmington, Delaware business owners who sell goods and services related to Halloween can expect far more treat than trick this year.

Based on estimates from The National Retail Federation (NRF), Wilmington consumers are expected to spend a record $22,821,616 on Halloween. This would be 19.3% more than was handed out in 2020.

The NRF estimates that 65% of consumers intend to celebrate Halloween or participate in Halloween activities this year, up from 58% in 2020 and comparable with 68% in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The top ways consumers are planning to celebrate include handing out candy (66%), decorating their home or yard (52%), dressing in costumes (46%), carving a pumpkin (44%), and hosting or attending a party (25%).

Wilmington small business owners looking to scare up a share of this Halloween cash will need to advertise to drive local consumers to their stores and websites. But, to make a difference, advertising needs to begin right away.

"This year consumers are shopping for Halloween items earlier than ever," says the NRF, "with 45% planning to shop in September or earlier and another 39% during the first two weeks of October."

Wilmington, Delaware business owners are expected to spend $45,558,000 on streaming video advertising in 2021, according to Borrell Associates, a company that tracks online marketing expenditures across the country. This spending will be 25.7% higher than in 2020.

Streaming video advertising expenditures are accelerating as Wilmington consumers continue to abandon shows on local TV stations and cable systems in favor of programming streamed via an internet connection. These online channels include Netflix, Hulu, Prime, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock, Prime Video, Roku Channel, SlingTV, PlutoTV, and dozens more.

This type of streamed video content is known collectively as OTT (Over-The-Top-Television) or CTV (Connected-Television). These two terms are sometimes used interchangeably but do have a subtle difference.

OTT generally means the video is watched on a small device like a computer, tablet, or smartphone.  CTV, on the other hand, typically means the content is viewed on a smart-TV or a regular television using a streaming device like a Roku or Amazon stick.

In Wilmington, according to Nielsen, OTT/CTV has exceeded the weekly reach of local newspapers and streaming audio services such as Pandora and Spotify. The medium is rapidly approaching the reach of local cable and broadcast TV stations.

According to the US Census Bureau, there are 19,142 businesses in the Wilmington, Delaware area. Some of these companies are small. Some are large. Some sell machine parts. Some sell software. Some provide legal services. Some provide eyecare.

Regardless of the size of the business or what it sells, all of these local companies have one thing in common: they are struggling to fill open jobs with qualified candidates. This is true in Wilmington as well as Edgemoor, New Castle, Elsmere, Pennsville, and every point in between.

Right now, across the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 10.9 million open jobs. This is an all-time record.

To put this mammoth number of open jobs in perspective, the Federal Reserve says there are now five job openings per every four unemployed people.

Attempting to recruit Wilmington workers from the ranks of the unemployed has proven fruitless for local companies. This is because many people who lost their jobs during the pandemic have no intention of returning to the workforce anytime soon.

There are several reasons so many Wilmington workers are not coming back.

First, older workers have opted to retire earlier than expected. Second, childcare issues are making it necessary for some parents to stay home. Third, other workers cite health safety issues for the reason why they chose not to work. Finally, some of the unemployed are choosing to live off the savings they amassed during the pandemic.

So rather than focusing recruitment efforts among former employees and the ranks of the unemployed, local business owners need to target the 324,119 passive job seekers in Wilmington.