Data and measurement company Inscape and local video advertising provider Locality said they are working together to provide marketers with unified linear TV and streaming measurement for national and local audiences.

The collaboration will enable advertisers to calculate incremental reach and other metrics for brands when planning and evaluating campaigns.

“Combining our access to premium local video at unduplicated scale with Inscape’s comprehensive local-level viewership data uniquely positions Locality to understand how ad campaigns perform across both linear and streaming distribution,” Locality president of streaming Keith Kazerman said. “This partnership enhances our ability to showcase our unique reach to partners and provide insights into how consumers engage with our local streaming and broadcast inventory in their optimal markets.”

Using Inscape’s unified source of data, Locality can perform cross-platform campaign planning at a brand and market level. This allows marketers to optimize budget allocations as consumers continue to lean into the growth of connected TV, the companies said.

“The solution this partnership brings to the $87 billion ad industry is access to unified data across locally targeted linear and streaming driving operational and budgetary efficiencies,” Vizio/Inscape VP of data licensing and strategy Ken Norcross said.

“Our data is a single-source solution that focuses on the content and the commercials and the habits and behaviors within the TV viewing experience, cohesively,” Norcross said. “This partnership with Locality allows us to demonstrate a comprehensive view of how consumers are engaging with TV and to create a better experience overall for advertisers.”

Streaming continued to gain share of viewing on smart TVs in the second quarter and made big gains with people watching live sports and news, according to a new report from Inscape.

In the second quarter, streaming-only viewers account for 60% of viewing, compared with 36% of people with streaming, traditional pay TV and over-the-air TV and 4% who have  only over-the-air delivery available to them.

That’s compares to 58%/38%/5% in the first quarter and 50%/42%/8% a year ago, Inscape said.

Streaming made more inroads into live sports and news–two categories that are foundational for traditional linear pay TV.

In the second quarter, streaming had 30.4% of live sports viewing, up from 27.3% in Q1 and 23.1% a year ago.

For news, streaming had a 20.2% share, up slightly from 20.1% the previous quarter and 14.7% a years ago.

Streaming’s share of total live linear viewing was 25.7% in Q2, up from 24.4% in Q1 and 18.3% a year ago.

Apps offered by traditional media companies had 12.9% share of time spent streaming, compared to 87.1% from streaming-first publishers. A year ago, traditional media companies had a 13.5% share, compared to 86% for streaming-first publishers.

Inscape found that the number of native apps used by smart TV owners has leveled off, highing 5.5 for the past three quarters. It stook at 5.4 app on average during Q2 2023 and Q3 2023.

Inscape’s Q2 2024 Trends Report used data from over 24 million opted-in VIZIO smart TV devices nationwide.

More people are using their smart TVs only to stream content, eschewing antennas and cable hookups, according to a new report from Inscape, set-maker Vizio’s data unit.

At the same time, more of the big-ticket tentpole programming from broadcast and cable is being streamed using smart TV apps including virtual multichannel video programming distributors — like YouTube TV — that can access live, linear broadcast and cable networks 

Nearly 25% of the content viewers “must see live” was streamed in Q1, according to Inscape’s 1Q Trends Report.

The number of smart TVs used only for streaming jumped to 58% in Q1 from 55% in Q4 2023, the largest quarterly increase since Q2 2023.

TVs that only accessed content via cable or satellite or over the air remained steady quarter over quarter at 5%.

“To put it bluntly, more than half of smart TVs included in the data did not access any content via cable, satellite or over-the-air antenna (OTA),“ Inscape said. “But that doesn’t mean people are only watching in an on-demand fashion.

“With a variety of apps and devices, smart TVs can access live, linear TV airing on broadcast or cable networks,“ the company added. “In Q1 2024, nearly a quarter of that ‘must-see-live’ content was streamed.”

Although the broadcast and traditional pay TV platforms continue to own the bulk of live, linear viewing, streaming’s share has increased to 24.4% from 15.2%, Inscape said.

Still, traditional TV is still where the bulk of sports (72.3%) and news (79.9%) got watched in Q1.  For March Madness specifically, 72.7% of viewing time of the women’s basketball tournament was watched over the air, on cable or satellite. For the men’s tournament, 68.6% was watched via traditionally-delivered TV.

In Q1, 94% of total streaming time was driven by smart TVs that only (66.8%) or mostly (27.1%) streamed content.

After a twofold increase in the average number of apps used per smart TV from 2021 to 2023, usage has leveled off in the last few quarters, with about 5.5 apps being used per TV. 

Inscape said this signals a stabilization in TV viewing behavior and a clear limit to how many apps people are willing to use. 

The Inscape report is based on data from more than 23 million opted-in Vizio devices.

Zeev Neumeier, who founded Inscape and was a pioneer in automatic content recognition, is beta-testing his new venture, GraySwan.

GraySwan’s artificial intelligence technology plugs into existing connected TV ad tech stacks to eliminate unusual occurrences — so-called gray swans — and make campaigns run more efficiently.

“Historically, these small frequent events took weeks to identify, and by that time, it was too late,” Neumeier said. “GraySwan surfaces these sorts of problems in real time, which is already saving companies millions of dollars on their bottom line.”

GraySwan has already been integrated with several major CTV publishers and has already driven double-digit improvements in performance, GraySwan said.

Some of the most common gray swans monitored so far are:

• Bad pacing setup, which allows high-volume and low-volume line items to deplete at the same numbers.
• Bad pricing setup results in some inventory sources not winning bids as often as they should.
• Supply or demand partner “degrades” for an hour here and there throughout the day.

GraySwan has been in stealth mode.

It emerges at a time when U.S. advertisers are expected to spend more than $24 billion on programming CTV video.

Vizio said it has extended its relationship with AdImpact, licensing AdImpact’s proprietary catalog of political commercials ahead of the upcoming election. 

AdImpact uses data from Vizio’s Inscape unit to help buyers plan, target and measure political campaigns across Vizio’s connected TV inventory.

“Vizio has become an essential platform for TV advertisers, and political advertisers are no different,” said Ken Norcross, VP, Data Licensing and Strategy at Vizio. “We have an exclusive audience that you can’t reach anywhere else, and this partnership will help political buyers more efficiently connect with potential voters while ensuring the most relevant experience possible for the viewer at home.”

The new arrangement between Vizio and AdImpact will enable political media buyers to target under- and overexposed audiences, optimize reach and frequency across households, and extend CTV-first campaigns on Vizio to additional devices. 

Additionally, the companies will be able to provide granular insight into ad exposure at the zip code and congressional district level, and provide a better understanding of the incremental reach of CTV compared to linear TV.

“There is no better time than now to expand upon our Vizio partnership, as we head into a very competitive general election season,” said Kyle Roberts, CEO of AdImpact. “By licensing our proprietary ad catalog, political advertisers buying with Vizio will gain an enhanced view of campaign performance and access better targeting capabilities to ensure they’re effectively reaching and engaging with potential voters ahead of November 5th.”

Viewers moved to streaming at an accelerating rate in the fourth quarter, according to the latest Trends Report from Vizio’s Inscape unit, but consumers have stopped adding streaming apps, perhaps hoping for bundles that will help them more easily access programming.

Inscape, which gets its data from millions of opted-in smart TV sets, says streaming increased its share of viewing time in the U.S.by 5.7 percentage point to 57.3% in the fourth quarter. That left cable and satellite combined with a 33,8% share. Over three year, streaming’s share has risen from 49.4% while the combined share for cable and satellite is down from 41.5%.

A lot of that is cord-cutting. Inscape says 6.5% of cable and satellite household stopped viewing programming from those sources in the fourth quarter, up from 4% in Q4 2022.

On top of that, many households have sharply reduced their satellite and cable viewing time, but have not fully cut the cord. Inscape calls these consumers “quiet quitters.” In the fourth quarter, 15% of cable and satellite households reduced cable and satellite viewing by 75% or more.  Another 11.8% of cable and satellite subscribers reduced cable and satellite viewing by 50% to 75%. 

At the same time, the percentage of smart TV viewers who only stream grew to 55% in Q4. Those streaming-only viewers accounted for 63% of streaming viewing time.

Inscape noted that the rising trend of viewers who only stream impacts marketers who still prioritize linear TV for their ad campaigns.

While the amount of time streaming, the number of native smart TV apps being used has leveled off over the past nine months at about 5.5 per device.

The report notes that this is “perhaps a sign to the market that consumers have had their fill and are simply fatigued by an endless array of subscriptions and authentications to navigate.” 

There have been some efforts to merge apps with Warner Bros. Discovery putting Discovery Plus content on Max and The Walt Disney Co. adding Hulu to its Disney Plus app.

While this penetration plateau might give platforms and publishers pause for now, as streaming bundles take form and signify an “everything old is new again” approach that had success for cable operators, there is still the potential for growth opportunities,Inscape said.

The last bastions of linear TV are sports and news.

In Q4 2023, nearly 80% of news viewing and 72% of sports viewing occurred via cable, satellite or OTA, Inscape said.

NFL football continued to dominate TV viewing during the league’s divisional playoffs on Saturday and Sunday.

According to Inscape, the data unit of smart TV maker Vizio, the playoff games captured a 33.62% share of viewership during the weekend.

That’s an increase from last season, when the divisional playoff games generated a 27.48% share of viewing.

The NFL said that its divisional playoff games averaged 40 million viewers on traditional TV and digital — the highest number on record going back to 1988.

The Sunday Kansas City Chiefs-Buffalo Bills primetime game on CBS (with Taylor Swift in the building) averaged 50.4 million viewers, the most watched divisional or wild card game on record.

Saturday’s Green Bay Packers-San Francisco 49ers game averaged 37.5 million viewers, making it the most watched Saturday NFL playoff game.

The average over the four games on Saturday and Sunday was up 7% compared to a year ago and up 5% from the 2021-22 season, when the previous high was registered, according to Nielsen and first party.digital data.

Inscape said college basketball games grabbed the second-biggest share of viewing with 2.06%.

Postseason NFL Countdown on ESPN was the No.3 show over the weekend with a 1.62% share.

The big NFL weekend also gave ESPN’s SportsCenter a boost. SportsCenter over Saturday and Sunday had a 1.35% share, and jumped up to be the No. 4 show. The previous weekend, SportsCenter ranked No. 12 with a 0.67% share, according to Inscape.

Inscape, the data unit of smart TV maker Vizio, said it will be providing expanded coverage of local TV stations by tapping into smart TV tuners in all U.S. markets.

Data from 22 million opted-in smart TVs will be used by stations and measurement companies, including Comscore and VideoAmp, to provide more detailed viewing information from a larger number of viewers. 

Local over-the-air TV ratings have been inconsistent because of small sample sizes, particularly in smaller markets. That hurts stations’ ability to sell advertising, particularly to national advertisers.

“By unlocking the potential of local TV in this game-changing way and bringing the full power of big data to OTA signals, clients and the industry as a whole will now have a critical entrypoint to previously unfeasible attribution of local TV content,” Charbel Makhoul, VP of product management, data science and analytics at Vizio and Inscape, said.

The tuner data will be available to participating Inscape clients beginning this month.

The new data can be used to optimize local ad spend with granular device-level data, and to analyze audiences to help improvise content strategy, Inscape said.

“For Comscore, having multiple sources of data capture is a key component of our TV measurement approach, which spans across all 210 local markets,” Comscore chief innovation officer David Algranati said. “Incorporating Smart TV Tuner Data from Inscape gives Comscore additional views into local station viewing behaviors, enabling us to better serve our clients with the most precise measurement.”

Josh Chasin, chief measurability officer at VideoAmp, said: “Local TV, and especially over the air digital broadcast, is one of the most robust spaces in the video ecosystem. We’re thrilled that Inscape is proactively supporting the measurement of this vital piece of the video pie.”

In an era of cord-cutting, 18% of U.S. TV households have a digital antenna and watch TV over the air. Over-the-air viewing generated an estimated $15.4 billion in advertising revenue in 2023. That figure is expected to jump to $18.8 billion in 2024, because it is a presidential election year.

Streaming has increased its share of viewing time in U.S. households by 6% in the third quarter compared to a year ago, according to a new report from Vizio’s Inscape data unit.

The share of viewing time spent streaming has increased to 55.9% from 46% since Q3 2021, Inscape said, while cable and satellite’s share has fallen from 44.3% to 34.9%. 

At the same time, the number of native streaming apps installed on smart TV sets in households has more than doubled to 5.4 apps.

The share of viewers who only stream content has risen to 54% from 45% at the end of 2021.

Inscape notes that for marketers, this means 54% of smart TV viewers, who make up 65% of smart-TV viewing time, are not reachable by traditional cable, satellite or over-the-air advertising.

Brands should prioritize diversification across marketing efforts, especially given that most streaming platforms are experimenting with ad-supported tiers, the Inscape report said.

While a lot of attention has focused on cord-cutting and cord-nevers, Inscape also notes that many people who still subscribe to pay TV spend nearly all of their time watching streaming content.

Inscape calls these households “quiet quitters” and found that in Q3, 5.7% of cable and satellite subscribers who didn’t watch cable and satellite programming rose to 5.7% from 5.3% in Q2.

Meanwhile, the percentage of smart-TV owners who both stream and watch content via cable and satellite is dwindling, down to 41% in Q3 from 46% in 2021. 

In Q3 2023, 94% of total streaming time was driven by viewers who only (64.6%) or mostly (29%) streamed on their smart TVs.

Still bucking the streaming trends are sports and news.

Inscape found that 76.7% of sports viewing and 81.8% of news viewing were still occurring on traditional TV.

A lot has been said about how cord-cutting decimates traditional linear television's viewership.

But according to Inscape, the data division of Vizio, many of the people who haven’t cut the cord have also reduced their viewing of satellite and cable TV.

In its Q2 2023 TV Market Trends report about 5% of U.S. pay TV households have stopped viewing content via cable and satellite. That’s up from 4% in Q4 2022. 

Others have cut back significantly.

Inscape calls these viewers “quiet quitters” who continue to pay for cable and satellite but aren’t tuning in.

Inscape found that 9% of pay TV households reduced cable and satellite viewing by 75% or more from Q2 2022 to Q2 2023. Another 8.4% of traditional pay TV households reduced their satellite and cable viewing time by 50% to 75% over that same period.

Pa yTV providers and networks are still getting revenue from these folks, but they aren't likely to be high lifetime value customers. Also, cable and satellite operators and programmers are looking at lower-than-expected ad revenue in these quiet-quitter households because of lower ratings.

“This quiet-quitting trend emphasizes the reality that not all TV viewership stats are created equal,” Inscape VP, data licensing & strategy Ken Norcross said. “While overall viewership data suggests a broader movement between formats, closer examination of specific programming categories like sports and news illustrates how legacy formats remain viable options.”

What are those quiet quitters still watching on cable and satellite? Cable, satellite and over-the-air broadcast accounts for 43.6% of TV viewing time, but 76.9% of sports viewing and 85.3% of news viewing.

More evidence that streaming has become the dominant way people are consuming video comes from Inscape, the data unit of smart TV maker Vizio.

Inscape said that in the second quarter, streaming’s share of viewership hit 53.8%, up 2.9% from 50.9% in Q2 2022 and a 44.1% share in Q2 2021.

The streaming total includes viewing of virtual multichannel video programming distributors like YouTube TV and Sling TV. Nielsen reported that in July, cable and satellite accounted for less than 50% of viewing. 

Streaming supplanted cable and satellite as the most-viewed TV source in early 2022  said Inscape, which uses data from 22 million opted-in TV devices and makes adjustments based on data from the U.S. Census and other sources.

The growth of streaming has been fed by the increase in penetration of smart TVs, which are now in 80% of U.S. homes.

Correspondingly, the share for cable and satellite has dropped to 37.1% from 46.9% in Q2 2021. The share of TV time going to gaming and over-the-air broadcast has been relatively flat, Inscape said.

The proliferation of free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels has been a big contributor to the growth of streaming. 

Inscape said FAST viewing time increased by 70% from Q2 2022.

Sports and news programming bucked the streaming trend, with the vast bulk of viewing in those genres taking place via cable, satellite or over the air. Inscape said that just 23.1% of sports viewing was streamed, while 14.7% of news was streamed.

Cord cutting was 5% from Q1 to Q2 of 2023. That’s up from the previous two quarters.

Inscape also identified a group of viewers it calls “quiet quitters,” who have not fully cut the cord, but have reduced their cable/satellite viewing time by 75% or more. Those “quiet quitter” accounted for 9% of cable/satellite households in the second quarter.

After 24 seasons, Dick Wolf’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit still brings in eyeballs.

The procedural crime drama, which premiered in 1999, came in No. 3 for live, linear watch-time with a 1.06% viewership share across all dayparts from Jan. 1 through June 30, 2023, according to data from Inscape, the currency-grade smart TV ACR data provider and data technology division of Vizio. SVU was behind only the NBA (1.83%) and NFL (1.72%), making the Mariska Hargitay- and Ice-T-starring series the top scripted program in the first half of the year. The series also nabbed the No. 3 spot when looking at weekends only with 1.59% viewership share, again behind the NFL and NBA.

The Dick Wolf universe — which includes stalwarts SVU, original crime procedural Law & Order and spinoff Law & Order: Organized Crime as well as Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, FBI and FBI: International — had three of the top 25 shows across all dayparts.

On a weekly basis for all dayparts in H1, SVU was among the top five most-watched programs weekly for every week except two. The week of Feb. 6-12, thanks to the Super Bowl, basketball and PGA Golf, SVU came in at No. 6. For the week of March 6-12, basketball, the Players Championship and the Oscars pushed SVU to No. 7.

SVU’s domination didn’t stop there. On USA Network alone, airings accounted for nearly half (44.76%) of all minutes watched on the network in the first half of 2023.

Looking at primetime minutes watched, however, the top Dick Wolf show wasn’t SVU but rather Chicago Fire. Fire ranked No. 8, capturing 1.02% of primetime minutes watched. SVU came in as the third most-watched show from Wolf at No. 15 with 0.84%. Wolf’s FBI edged out SVU in primetime at 0.91% for the No. 13 spot. In all, the Wolf-verse had five of the top 25 primetime shows.

Wolf series also performed on the ad side. According to iSpot, new episodes and reruns of Dick Wolf shows generated 123.2 billion national linear household TV ad impressions across all dayparts from Jan. 1 through June 30, 2023.

SVU was the top Dick Wolf show for national TV ad impressions with 43.3 billion. Its closest Wolf sibling was Chicago Fire with 21.8 billion impressions. 

For all programs, dayparts and episode types including sports, SVU came in at a familiar No. 3 for impressions share of voice (1.34%) in H1 2023. No. 1 and No. 2? You probably guessed it: NBA with 2.08% and NFL with 1.39%.

When narrowed down to new episodes and reruns in primetime only, SVU was the top Dick Wolf show again for national linear TV ad impressions (9.8 billion), followed by Chicago Fire (8.1 billion) and FBI (7.6 billion). If sports are included across primetime, SVU still makes the cut, ranking fifth with an impressions SOV of 1.22%.

Looking at only Dick Wolf shows again, the brands with the most national TV ad impressions were Domino’s (1.9 billion), Progressive (1.2 billion), Liberty Mutual (883.9 million), Burger King (878.8 million) and Kohl’s (829.8 million). Network-wise, Ion (42 billion impressions), USA (32.9 billion), NBC (20.1 billion), CBS (11.5 billion) and WE tv (5 billion) had the most impressions across all Dick Wolf shows.

With the ongoing writers and actors strikes, syndicated shows and reruns might be pulling double-duty come fall. So expect to see shows with deep libraries like the Wolf-verse’s SVU and Law & Order continue to do well in the second half of 2023. 

Inscape, Vizio’s data and analytics unit, said it launched Commercial Feed Plus which will help clients measure ad impressions delivered on streaming services in addition to traditional linear networks.

Inscape uses automatic content recognition (ACR) technology to detect viewing on millions of Vizio smart TVs. The information on linear viewing has been used by measurement companies using big data to give networks and advertisers insights into who is watching commercials and how effective they are.

The Commercial Feed Plus data set will emphasize streaming at a time when streaming services are emphasizing their ad-supported tiers. Inscape said the new data still will provide a single source of data that is more accurate and will provide a holistic view that will improve the buying and measurement of campaigns.

“By incorporating more sources across both linear and streaming, Inscape is helping the industry finally consolidate media fragmentation by providing a comprehensive reporting of cross-platform TV viewing behavior,” said Ken Norcross, VP, data licensing and strategy at Inscape. “This allows our partners to better analyze ad effectiveness and performance for planning and measurement decisions – critical inputs for content providers, brands, advertisers and our measurement and analytics partners.”

Commercial Feed Plus uses ACR and other technologies to detect streaming ads, increasing the  commercial exposures registered across multiple viewing sources. Inscape says it is able to deduplicate commercial exposure data across linear and streaming, giving clients better insights for campaign planning and measurement.

Adding streaming to its data set, Inscape said it found 34% more ad impressions, a 32% increase in ad hours and 23% more unique commercial exposures.

“With the explosive growth of CTV, it’s critical that the industry has a complete and efficient way to measure, understand and make decisions around both linear TV and streaming,” said John Batter, CEO of MarketCast, a research company. “Being able to leverage Inscape’s Commercial Feed Plus solution, which adds streaming sources to an already robust data set, is critical to the MarketCast mission of helping our clients see beyond linear TV in order to measure the impact of advertising effectiveness across CTV streaming services as well.“

Looking to grab a foothold in a shifting television measurement multiverse, MarketCast said it was expanding its Brand Effect product into the fast-growing connected TV space.

While most big data measurement upstarts look to compete with Neislen in counting viewers and impressions, Brand Effect measures how much impact, or “resonance,” a commercial ad has on the viewers who see it, and now, in which programming and which networks an ad is likely to have the most resonance.

Brands have used Brand Effect on linear TV for years. Now. through a deal to use smart TV data from Vizio’s Inscape unit, Brand Effect can identify CTV viewers who have seen a particular commercial and find out how many viewers recalled the ad, how many remember the brand message and how many associated the ad with the correct advertiser.

MarketCast works with blue-chip advertisers including Capital One, Wells Fargo, Nissan, AT&T and Ford, representing about 30% of primetime TV ad clients. “They all wanted to be in CTV. They were all moving budgets over to CTV already, MarketCast chief marketing officer Graham McKenna told Broadcasting+Cable.

MarketCast acquired Brand Effect when it bought Phoenix Marketing International last year. 

“Our goal was to infuse it with more of a technology foundation, more data science rigor and expand beyond linear TV,” MarketCast chief data science officer Tom Weiss said.

The expansion will allow advertisers to take the familiar tools with which they measure advertising in linear video to CTV’s Wild West.

At the same time, Brand Effect can now tell them “where is my advertising going to be most effective,” Weiss, previously head of data science at Inscape, said. “I think this is much more of an optimization and a planning tool, more than really anything else.”

The Brand Effect expansion comes amid a debate, with traditional TV programmers arguing only premium, professionally produced, or at least long-form video should be counted, while YouTube argues all video, including user-generated content, should be measured in the same way and all impressions should be equal.

Also Read: Joint Industry Committee on Measurement Invites YouTube

“Now there is an offering for the sell side that goes beyond reach,” McKenna said.

McKenna said Brand Effect is designed to be a complement to all of the providers of reach metrics, from Nielsen to iSpot.tv, Comscore and VideoAmp.

Brand Effect has been certified by NBCU, which has been pushing to create a measurement of content quality, and is MarketCast to generate its Content Quality Index, McKenna said.

“We’re going to be able to show the impact of that advertising itself in terms of resonance and in terms of recall and memorability,” McKenna said. “So we think it offers a nice balance to reach.

Said Weiss: “People want something they can add to the equation on currency. NBC is the first of our sell-side partners to say, ‘Absolutely, they want that.‘ ”

NBCU and MarketCast will be running a trial of the Brand Effect Resonance Ratings feature with advertisers and other measurement providers through the end of the year.

MarketCast is also starting a proof of concept with iSpot. 

“We’ve got a lot of conversations going on at the moment with other partners,” Weiss said.

“We’re excited to expand our partnership with MarketCast to include Inscape’s cutting-edge streaming ad-detection solution,” Vizio VP, data licensing and insights Ken Norcross said. “Doing so gives MarketCast an ability to achieve their goal of providing higher-fidelity data and insights to advertisers seeking to capitalize on the opportunity that exists within the CTV ecosystem. 

“By way of the most robust, representative and reliable source for smart TV data in America, Marketcast will now be able to help drive key upper funnel metrics that CMOs find critical to inform their ad strategy and creative decisions.”

Brand Effect surveys about 15,000 people a day, giving it a level of detail not seen on other measurement platforms, Weiss said. Participants are asked whether they recall seeing certain commercials, what those commercials said and which brand they were for.

“The problem is it was just a survey-based methodology. We thought we could transform it with behavioral data” from Inscape, he said.

Weiss said a high score on Brand Effect correlates with strong business outcomes.

“The problem with outcome measurement is it really only works effectively for certain categories of products,” he said. “There is this desire in the market to have something which is closer to outcomes than say attention or impressions. There are many categories where we can get that correlation and we see it works absolutely fabulously.” ▪️

Vizio’s Inscape unit said it has created a National Representative Panel to better align the viewing data it provides to the TV industry with the U.S. Census.

The system is designed to ensure that its “big data” generated from users of Vizio smart TVs more accurately reflects the viewing public as the industry appears to be shifting from measuring viewing based on a relatively small number of sample households — the traditional system used by Nielsen — to systems based on information coming from millions of set-top boxes and smart TVs.

Innovid is one of the first measurement companies to use the new Inscape panel to improve the accuracy of its households-level cross-platform audience measurement.

Automatic content recognition (ACR) data from Inscape is also used by Nielsen, 605 and iSpot.tv.

“Accurate data is a crucial necessity for the $90 billion TV and CTV advertising industry to reach audiences and assess the effectiveness of ad dollars,” Charbel Makhoul, VP of Inscape product management, data science and analytics at Vizio, said. “Enhancing our ACR data to help ensure accurate representation of audiences is a critical step in creating currency-grade data that is consistent, stable, and scalable. We are playing a catalyst role in advancing currency measurement capabilities for the industry by enhancing ACR data.”

Inscape’s National Representative Panel — a “significant subset” of the 21 million opted-in Inscape TVs at 10 million devices — is selected to address variances between Vizio homes and U.S. population in terms of age, gender, income, location, cable subscription, antenna usage and ethnicity.

Inscape said it calibrates its TV data based on the National Representative Panel to eliminate fluctuations from census proportions.

“We are continuing to invest heavily in the data and accuracy that fuels our measurement platform, leveraged today by thousands of advertisers,” said Jo Kinsella, president of InnovidXP at Innovid. “The development of the NRP ensures that our clients are leveraging the most representative view of the total population and reinforces the importance of quality and scale when it comes to cross-platform TV measurement.” ■

Yellowstone, one of Paramount Network’s biggest hits, returned for its fifth season on November 13. The drama, starring Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes and Kelly Reilly, has spawned multiple spin-offs including the limited series 1883 and the upcoming 1923, and the season four finale in January broke records with more than 10 million viewers, “making it the most-watched cable show since the season three premiere of The Walking Dead in 2017,” as Broadcasting + Cable’s Jon Lafayette reported at the time.

According to Inscape, the currency-grade smart TV ACR data provider and data technology division of Vizio with insights from a panel of more than 20 million opted-in TVs, Yellowstone was the second most-watched show on November 13. Including reruns leading up to the two-hour season five premiere, the show in total accounted for 6.16% of all live, linear minutes watched during the day — behind only the NFL (27.24% of watch-time). 

At the network level, Paramount Network captured 3.31% of all minutes watched on November 13, putting it in fifth place for watch-time, behind only the big four broadcast networks.

Measuring viewership across the full time period that Yellowstone season four covered (November 7, 2021 through January 2, 2022), the show was the No. 11 most-watched program, and accounted for nearly 64% of all minutes watched on Paramount Network during the season run. 

Over the summer, while the show was between seasons, Paramount milked its popularity through a few weekend rerun marathons, which clearly engaged viewers: Inscape data for May 28 through September 5 reveals that it was the No. 1 most-watched program on Paramount Network, capturing 24.5% of all minutes watched. Each time a marathon aired, the show jumped into the top 50 ranking of programs on live, linear TV by watch-time across all networks for that TV week. 

A week ahead of the season five premiere, Paramount used the marathon approach to get people excited for Yellowstone’s return: From November 5-6, the network aired hours of old episodes, capturing 1.12% of all minutes watched on TV that weekend, putting it solidly in sixth place for most-watched shows, behind only sports and reruns of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. ■

Programmers, streamers and even smart TV brands are leaning into the fall season in a big way. From myriad made-for-TV movies and Vizio's launch of its free-to-view "Fall Fest," to Peacock's "Halloween Horror" and Hulu's "Huluween" in-app destinations, it seems like this year there's more fall-related stuff popping up on screens than ever.

When it comes to live, linear TV, Hallmark Channel has a lock on love during the season's festivities. Its "Fall into Love" programming block kicked off August 6 with 11 new movie premieres over the following months, nearly double its autumn offering last year (six) and more than triple its 2019 premieres during the same period.

Looking at viewership data from Vizio's Inscape, 22 of Hallmark's 50 most-watched shows and movies are fall-themed, led by Dating the Delaneys, its third premiere of "Fall into Love," which captured 1.50% of all live, linear minutes watched on the network from August 1 through October 20. And if you remove syndicated reruns, Delaneys was the No. 1 program by watch-time for the channel this fall. That's up a notch from last year's most-watched fall title, Roadhouse Romance, which captured 1.48% of minutes watched during the same period.

On the advertising side of things, estimated TV ad spend on Hallmark Channel is up nearly 8% year-over-year since August 1, per iSpot.tv, and most-seen advertisers include Nutrisystem (1.44% impressions SOV), GOLO (1.21%) and Instacart (1.14%). While Nutrisystem and GOLO did advertise on Hallmark last fall, they've dramatically upped airings from a couple hundred each in 2021 to over 1,000 this year. Instacart, Knix, Indeed and Choice Hotels are four brands that did not advertise on Hallmark during fall 2021 but did run ads this year.

But of course it can't all be about harvest romances -- it is spooky season, after all. Inscape examined the horror genre across live, linear TV to reveal the most-watched horror movies so far this season: Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Jaws, House of Wax and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers.

At the network level, AMC is dominating the scares, capturing over 54% of all horror minutes watched since September 1, up from 41% during the same period in 2021. Syfy takes second, with 10.5% of watch-time for horror content.

Diving deeper into AMC, airings of the original Halloween have captured 2.83% of all minutes watched on the network since September 1, second only to The Walking Dead.

Subway (1.68%), Progressive (1.61%) and Burger King (1.32%) are the top three brands by TV ad impressions SOV this fall on AMC, and each have invested more heavily this year than last, leading to notable share of voice increases compared to 2021. Looking at new advertisers this year, Instacart and Nutrafol were two of the most-seen that did not air ads in the same time period in 2021.

And finally, we can’t have Halloween without fresh baking competitions over on Food Network. The cooking destination has upped its fall fare: In 2021, five of its top 50 most-watched shows were Halloween- or autumn-themed. This year there are seven in the top 50, led by Halloween Baking Championship, which has snagged 10.87% of all live-linear minutes watched on the network September 1 through October 20, per Inscape -- up from 8.96% in the same period last year.

Halloween Wars, another seasonal competition, has received 7.77% of Food Network watch-time (up from 7% in 2021), and Halloween Cookie Challenge, the network’s latest themed offering, has 1.80% of minutes watched.

According to iSpot, top brands by TV ad impressions SOV on Food Network this fall include Kohl's (0.98%), Progressive (0.87%) and Target (0.87%). Of those three, Progressive ran about 100 more airings this year than last. New advertisers this year that didn't run ads last fall include Bank of America Credit Card, King's Hawaiian, Rubbermaid, Lavazza and Visible. ■

TV measurement company iSpot said it hired Vizio executive Jodie McAfee as senior VP, agency partnerships.

iSpot’s relationship with Vizio’s Inscape unit gave iSpot access to the viewing data from millions of smart TVs, enabling it to provide the industry with a big-data alternative to Nielsen.

McAfee was most recently VP, marketing and communications for Vizio. Before that, he was VP, business development for Inscape. 

In his new role at iSpot, McAfee will look to expand the roster of media-buying agencies that use iSpot data for buying, planning and optimization. He will also look at strengthening ties with the 750 brand customers that use iSpot products and push to have the company’s data used as currency for buying and selling commercials.

Also: Nielsen in Expanded Deal To Use Data From Vizio’s Inscape

iSpot said McAfee is one of 100 people the company has hired in 2022. Goldman Sachs invested $325 million in iSpot in April. 

“iSpot recognizes that agencies play a vital role in shaping the future of TV advertising and consumer/brand engagement,” iSpot founder and CEO Sean Muller said. “We are committed to furthering their successes and innovations with accurate measurement and steadfast support led by Jodie and his team.” 

At Vizio, McAfee led the creation of Project OAR, a consortium that looked to create addressable standards for linear TV. He also led the integration of Vizio’s viewing data into the TV marketplace. 

Before Vizio, he helped launch Samsung Ads and was head of marketing at Hallmark Channel. 

“There is an enormous opportunity for iSpot and agencies to redefine how TV is bought, sold, measured and verified in a way that improves the process for all constituents in the ecosystem,” McAfee said. ■

After two games of the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors are knotted up at one win apiece. But for the entire playoffs, the Celtics actually remain ahead by minutes watched on TV.

Below, we utilize glass-level insights from Vizio’s Inscape, including a panel of more than 19 million active and opted-in smart TVs, to quantify the NBA playoffs on TV through game two of the finals.

• As mentioned, the Celtics have led the way, accounting for 30.38% of playoff minutes watched so far. While part of that lead comes from playing in the NBA Finals, Boston also benefits from playing in seven-game series in both the Eastern Conference Finals (against the Miami Heat) and semifinals (against the Milwaukee Bucks), which naturally boosts watch-time.
• The Warriors are second, at 28.63% of minutes watched due in part to playing in fewer games in the playoffs (18, versus 20 for the Celtics). Golden State won the Western Conference Finals in five games over the Dallas Mavericks, though that series was also well-watched with four of the top 10 games by share of playoff watch-time.
• Trailing the Celtics and Warriors were the Mavericks (21.45% of minutes watched), Heat (19.42%) and the Phoenix Suns (15.67%). Dallas and Miami both played in the conference finals, so more games by default. The Suns, on the other hand, were knocked out in the Western Conference Semifinals but were also the league’s best team this year, so had plenty of eyeballs on them from game-to-game.
• Boston’s lead will continue to extend throughout the NBA Finals now, as they’ll be involved in all remaining games. Despite a lopsided game two win for the Warriors on Sunday, the contest accounted for 3.10% of all NBA playoffs watch-time – slightly more than game one’s share of minutes watched (3.00%). However, game one has also drawn the largest share of the NBA playoffs TV audience, with 27.20% of viewers.
• The two NBA Finals games so far are the most-watched games of the NBA playoffs so far. Boston’s game seven win over the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals is No. 3 at 2.04% of watch-time, and the Celtics game seven win over the Bucks before that is No. 4 at 1.93%. Golden State’s game one matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference Semifinals is a surprising No. 5, with 1.90% of watch-time.
• Among some of the other interesting insights when looking at the NBA playoff audience data: The Toronto Raptors struggled to draw stateside viewers with three of the bottom five games by minutes watched (though, notably, all of those appeared on NBA TV instead of ABC/ESPN/TNT). Of the six play-in games before the full tournament field was set this year, April 15’s matchup between the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers accounted for the largest share of playoff minutes watched, with 0.77%.
• The largest TV markets also failed to factor into much of this year’s audience picture, with both the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks missing the playoffs, the Los Angeles Clippers falling in the play-in games, and the Brooklyn Nets being swept in the first round. Having a well-watched playoff despite New York and L.A.’s relative absence is a positive sign for the league as it eyes its next TV deal.

Nielsen said it signed a new multi-year deal with Vizio that gives it access to smart-tv data from Vizio’s inscape unit.

The agreement also provides Nielsen with a period of exclusivity for data gathered on some of local stations that are part of Vizio’s newly expanded local coverage of 400 stations.

The deal comes as Nielsen is preparing Nielsen One, its new rating system aiming to capture cross-platform viewership by incorporating big data into its panel-based methodology starting in September. 

Nielsen One is Nielsen’s response to the new measurement companies offering networks and media buyers their own alternate viewing data. Nielsen said its panels and meters in viewers’ homes will be used to validate what is missing in big data sets, including complete representation, over-the-air inclusion, validation of diverse representation, understanding  when the TV is on or off, and persons-level measurement.

"At Nielsen, we have a commitment to the industry to continue to innovate and improve for the future. This agreement with one of the premier Smart TV manufacturers, for both national and local measurement, further validates our commitment," said Peter Bradbury, chief commercial officer, Nielsen. "Having millions of devices covered by ACR is incredible for our audience measurement, and when these big data sets are verified and enhanced by real human behavior, which only Nielsen can do, this represents the future of media measurement."

Vizio gets data from about 20 million smart TVs.

As viewing trends shift and audiences fragment across different services, Inscape has been at the forefront of powering products that are better for the consumer experience and bringing greater transparency and scale to the measurement sector," said Mike O'Donnell, chief revenue and engagement officer at Vizio. "We're excited to work with Nielsen and for the inclusion of our opted-in viewing data in Nielsen's services as we continue to help the entire TV marketplace evolve."■

VideoAmp and Vizio said they renewed their agreement enabling VideoAmp to use data from smart TVs as part of a new ad sales currency that ViacomCBS and others plan to use as an alternative to Nielsen.

Vizio has been restricting the use of data from its Inscape unit as it builds its own targeted ad business. The new deal lets VideoAmp use the data for planning, measurement and ad sales through 2025, with an option for VideoAmp to extend the pact.

Also Read: Ad Industry Seeks Alternatives After Nielsen Loses Seal of Approval

ViacomCBS last month announced that it will be using VideoAmp to sell and guarantee ad deals. ViacomCBS and other programmers were already using VideoAmp for planning and measurement. VideoAmp said it was talking to other programmers about using its currency as well.

VideoAmp is also conducting pilot programs aimed at creating alternative currencies with six major media agency holding companies.

“We’ve had a longstanding relationship with Vizio and are looking forward to what the future holds for our partnership. Effective advertising hinges on changing the way we use our datasets to create more advanced, resilient and transparent solutions for our clients. Vizio has been a trusted partner in helping us achieve an unrivaled level of confidence and service for our clients,” said VideoAmp chief strategy officer, Nick Chakalos. “Our renewed partnership will ensure the continued delivery of privacy-safe, scalable solutions for reaching the right audience while also optimizing media investments and advertising yields in the most effective way.”

Vizio’s Inscape collects automatic content recognition (ACR) data from more than 18 million opted-in Vizio Smart TVs. VideoAmp combines that with data from set-top boxes to get a picture of viewing across video platforms.

"VideoAmp’s continued use of VIZIO’s Inscape viewership data will help support VideoAmp’s recently announced currency plans,” said Travis Hockersmith, VP of Platform Plus at Vizio “Vizio's Inscape continues to help accelerate cross-screen currency options with our best-in-class data set.”

Below is a snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of July 26-Aug. 1, highlighting the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

This year’s Summer Olympics has quickly taken over minutes watched on TV as audiences tune in to see Team USA vie for gold. During the week of July 26-Aug. 1, the Olympics races into first place with 17.13% of watch-time — more than 21 times the watch-time of the next-most-watched programming.

Good Morning America is No. 2 for the week, with 0.80% of minutes watched, followed by Today (0.77%), Major League Baseball (0.64%) and Friends (0.60%). Meanwhile, classic (1955-75) Western drama Gunsmoke has been rising rapidly through the rankings this summer, moving all the way up to No. 8 by watch-time this week.

Beyond the Olympics, sports still earns major audience attention. As mentioned above, MLB games are fourth by minutes watched. SportsCenter is No. 12 by watch-time at 0.44%, and the CONCACAF Gold Cup is No. 18 at 0.38%. The latter was assisted by some thrilling finishes by the U.S. men’s national soccer team, including an extra-time winner to clinch the title vs. Mexico on Aug. 1.

Some of the biggest week-over-week movers include Ridiculousness (up from 15th to seventh in minutes watched), NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (from 17th to ninth), Fox & Friends (24th to 14th) and SpongeBob SquarePants (22nd to 15th).

Also Read: Summer 2021 TV Premiere Dates

NBC high-jumps to the top of the watch-time ranking by network, with 14.54% of minutes watched from July 26-Aug. 1 (up from 10.26% the previous week). As was the case from July 19-25 as well, ABC, CBS, Fox News and Fox follow NBC in that order by watch-time this week.  

The Olympics also spur changes elsewhere in the ranking. USA Network, which has been airing events from the Games, climbs to No. 6 with 2.73% of watch-time, and NBC Sports Network moves up from No. 21 to No. 15, at 1.52% of minutes watched.

Also Read: NBCU Still Expects Olympics To Be Profitable, Says Jeff Shell

Top Shows and Networks By TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

With so many viewers tuning into the Olympics, it’s no surprise that the Games would also serve the most TV ad impressions. From July 26 to Aug. 1, the Olympics led all programming with 14.1 billion impressions, which was more than 14 times the impressions of No. 2 Today (969 million).

Beyond the top two, news and talk programs continue to deliver higher impressions numbers as well. Good Morning America is third with 910 million TV ad impressions, followed by (soap opera) The Young and the Restless (716 million) and Today’s third hour (694 million). CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell — one of 15 news and/or talk programs populating the top 25 — is No. 25 for the week with over 279 million TV ad impressions. Major League Baseball (No. 11) and the CONCACAF Gold Cup (No. 23) are the only other live sporting events included in this week’s ranking.

As the primary home of Olympics-related programming, NBC clearly tops the list for the week’s ad-impressions-by-network ranking, with nearly 13.5 billion from July 26-Aug. 1. Meanwhile, the network’s, main news shows, Today and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, are also experiencing TV ad impressions increases thanks to  more eyeballs on NBC overall.

ABC remains in second for the week, with 3.9 billion TV ad impressions, while CBS stays in third with 3.8 billion impressions. Fox News (3.6 billion impressions) and MSNBC (2.3 billion) complete the top five. USA Network impressions nearly triple, from around 660 million from July 19-25, to nearly 1.8 billion from July 26-Aug. 1.

The below snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of July 19-25 highlights the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

After a thrilling NBA Finals, the Summer Olympics quickly hurdled into the lead for minutes watched on TV. During the week of July 19-25, the Olympics takes first place with 8.39% of watch-time. 

Good Morning America is No. 2 for the week, at 0.86% of watch-time, followed by the NBA Finals, despite just one game throughout the week (0.82%), MLB baseball (0.72%) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (0.70%). At No. 7, Friends is one of a handful of comedies sprinkled throughout this week’s rankings, including The Golden Girls (No. 12) and Two and a Half Men (No. 18). 

Despite the Olympics owning a lot of attention, it’s not the lone sports draw in this week’s rankings. As previously noted, both the NBA Finals and MLB are in the top five for minutes watched. PGA Tour golf is No. 11 (with 0.49% of watch-time), while SportsCenter is No. 14, and the CONCACAF Gold Cup is No. 21. 

Benefiting from the bump provided by the Olympics, NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt rises from 30th to 17th by minutes watched for the week. Additionally, SpongeBob SquarePants bubbles up from outside the top 50 to No. 22. The Olympics is, of course, the biggest mover on the week, after not airing at all from July 12-18.

Also Read: Summer 2021 TV Premiere Dates

With an obvious push from the Olympics, NBC soars to the top of the watch-time ranking, with 10.3% of minutes watched from July 19-25. ABC drops one spot to second place at 6.48% of watch-time. CBS is No. 3 with 5.33%, followed by Fox News (3.76%) and Fox (3.36%) to round out the top five. Fox News and Fox flip-flop from the previous week, when Fox was No. 4.

USA Network benefits from the Olympics as well, swimming from No. 14 to No. 9, while NBC Sports Network makes its own leap from No. 40 to No. 21. Bravo sits at No. 25 on the week, with 1.06% of minutes watched.

Top Shows and Networks By TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

It shouldn’t surprise that the Olympics deliver the most TV ad impressions on the week, with 4.8 billion — all coming between Friday, July 23 and Sunday, July 25. The NBA Finals is second with 1.18 billion TV ad impressions, followed by Good Morning America (902 million), The Young and the Restless (697 million) and MLB baseball (604 million).

News and talk programming continues to be a large portion of the top 25 shows by TV ad impressions. From July 19-25, six of the top 10 were either news or talk-related, as were 10 of the top 25 overall. The Olympics boost NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt impressions as well, as the show surges from No. 20 the previous week all the way to No. 7.

NBC is at the top of the podium for the week's ad-impressions-by-network ranking, with over 7.1 billion from July 19-25. The Summer Olympics are clearly the biggest part of that leap (from 4.6 billion the previous week), though, as we’ve already noted, some of the network’s other shows also benefited from the increased eyeballs on the Games.

ABC takes silver for the week, with 5.8 billion TV ad impressions, while CBS gets the bronze with 4.2 billion. Fox News (3.8 billion) and MSNBC (2.4 billion) round out the top five. USA Network has nearly five times more impressions week-over-week as a result of airing Olympic events.

Our snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of July 12-18 shines a spotlight on the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Though the NBA Finals are still ongoing, a new program has taken the lead in terms of minutes watched on TV. During the week of July 12-18, the Open Championship (the British Open, to some) took first place with 1.92% of watch-time. After topping the previous week’s ranking, the NBA Finals fall one spot to second, with 1.26% of minutes watched.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit remains No. 3 for the week with 1.12% of watch-time, followed by Good Morning America (0.89%) and Today (0.70%). SVU is one of numerous dramas to appear in this week’s ranking. Some of the others include NCIS (No. 9), NCIS: New Orleans (No. 10), Gunsmoke (No. 13), Law & Order (No. 19), Forensic Files (No. 24) and Criminal Minds (No. 25).

Major League Baseball was off for much of the week, but still managed 0.43% of watch-time to rank No. 18 overall. However, the 2021 MLB All-Star Game is all the way up at No. 11, with 0.52% of minutes watched. The CONCACAF Gold Cup’s group stages are a few places ahead, ranking No. 8 before the soccer event transitions to the knockout rounds that should lead to a hotly anticipated championship match between rival U.S. and Mexican national teams.

Also Read: Summer 2021 TV Premiere Dates

ABC maintains its lead in the watch-time ranking for the second week in a row, thanks in part to the NBA Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns. The network has 6.97% of total minutes watched, keeping it ahead of NBC in second place with 6.37%. CBS is in third again, with 5.29% of watch-time. Fox rides sports to leap from No. 5 to No. 4 with 4.08% of minutes watched, while Fox News rounds out the top five at 3.94%.

IFC makes the chart’s biggest week-over-week leap, from not appearing among the top 50 to placing 10th overall. Discovery Channel rides Shark Week from No. 20 to No. 15. The Golf Channel, after splitting final round coverage of the Open Championship with NBC, jumps from No. 50 to No. 23 with 1.21% of watch-time. TV Land closes out the top 25 ranking for July 12-18, at 1.16% of minutes watched.

Top Shows and Networks By TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

The NBA Finals deliver the most TV ad impressions yet again, with over 1.6 billion from July 12-18. Also topping the 1 billion impressions mark are both the 2021 Open Championship (1.4 billion) and Major League Baseball (1.1 billion). Good Morning America (872 million TV ad impressions) and Today (661 million) round out the top five.

News and talk programming makes up about 60% of this week’s top 25 shows by TV ad impressions. Sports are 20%, while reality TV is 12%. Speaking of reality TV, Big Brother and Love Island are among the biggest movers for the week, with each climbing more than five spots (Big Brother actually leaps from 23rd to 11th).

ABC stays on top of the week’s ad-impressions-by-network ranking, with over 6.2 billion from June 12-18. While ABC is airing the NBA Finals, NBC just completed the Open Championship and will be launching into Summer Olympics coverage shortly. NBC is No. 2 for the week, with 4.6 billion TV ad impressions.

Fox News edges up one spot to No. 3 with 4.13 billion impressions, followed by CBS (4.10 billion) and MSNBC (2.5 billion). Final round Open Championship coverage vaults the Golf Channel up from No. 19 to No. 11. Food Network moves from 25th up to 20th, while Investigation Discovery closes out the weekly ranking this time around.

Welcome to our quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of May 24-30, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

The NBA Playoffs were a fixture on TVs over the last week, as the games stayed in first place for watch-time once again, with a 4.33% share of minutes watched (up from 3.04% the week before). Sports maintained a large presence overall, as five of the top 10 shows by watch-time were sports-related. Beyond the NBA, NHL hockey (0.80%), MLB baseball (0.70%), college softball (0.65%) and PGA Tour golf (0.63%) were the other sports programs in the top 10.

Drafting off the Friends reunion show on HBO Max, reruns of the beloved sitcom  jumped all the way to third by minutes watched, with 0.88% of the total; that’s up from No. 11 the previous week. Good Morning America (0.89% of watch-time) was No. 2, followed by Friends, Today (0.82%) and the NHL.

Week-over-week, some of the biggest movers were Home Town (unranked to No. 18), The Voice (up from No. 28 to No. 13) and SpongeBob SquarePants (No. 24 to No. 15). More generally, PGA Tour golf was new to the top 50 this week, but only because it was replacing the PGA Championship (second the week before).

On the strength of the Indy 500 and The Voice’s two-part season finale, NBC jumped up to No. 1 in the network rankings (from third last week), with 7.13% of watch-time. ABC stayed in second with 6.52% of minutes watched, buoyed by the ongoing NBA Playoffs, while TNT (which also airs the playoffs) climbed from eighth to sixth. Lifetime moved up to 25th, with 1.01% of watch-time on the week, to close out the top 25.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Now fully in the swing of the playoffs, NBA games reigned supreme again, delivering nearly 4.6 billion TV ad impressions from May 24-30 (a 49% jump from the previous week). Good Morning America moved up one spot to second, with 873 million TV ad impressions, followed by Today (820 million), The Price Is Right (772 million) and NHL hockey (762 million). 

NASCAR programming saw major increases for the week, fueled by both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600. The latter paced a TV ad impressions increase of 153% week-over-week for the NASCAR Cup Series.

CBS remained atop the ad-impressions-by-network rankings, with over 6.4 billion TV ad impressions — nearly 500 million more than NBC (which moved up one spot from the previous week, to second). Despite the NBA playoffs — partly airing on the network — ABC moved down one spot to third.

Fox News and TNT (another NBA Playoffs TV partner) rounded out the top five on the week. TNT’s impressions more than doubled week-over-week with the NBA’s first-round series all heating up. ESPN2 maintained a spot within the top 25 on the strength of NCAA postseason action for softball and baseball. And History Channel closed out the ranking in 25th place, up one spot from the week before.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of May 17-23, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

With the playoffs officially in full swing, NBA basketball remained in first place for watch-time -- increasing its share of minutes watched to 3.04% (up from just over 1% the week before). Sports were parked atop the charts beyond the No.1 spot as well. The 2021 PGA Championship was second with 2.51% of all minutes watched, followed by NHL hockey (also in the midst of the playoffs now) with 1.08%.

Good Morning America (0.90% of watch-time) and SportsCenter (0.85%) rounded out the top five, with the latter jumping up from No. 11 the week before on the strength of playoff highlights and Phil Mickelson’s surprising win in the PGA Championship.

Also Read: NBA Launches ‘That’s Game’ Campaign During Playoffs

CBS moved up to No. 1 in the network rankings this week (from second last week) with 7.69% of watch-time, powered by the exciting final round of the PGA Championship. ABC climbed to second, with 6.76% of minutes watched -- in part due to game one of two separate NBA playoff series (as well as the American Idol season finale). TNT climbed from No. 11 to No. 8 week over week due to the NBA Playoffs as well. A&E closed out the weekly rankings in 25th, with 0.91% of watch-time.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Between late regular season games, play-in contests and the start of playoff series over the weekend, NBA basketball was far and away the top source of TV ad impressions from May 17-23, with 3.06 billion (a 266% increase week over week). Second was the PGA Championship, with 1.34 billion TV ad impressions. Good Morning America was No. 3 with 866 million impressions -- a slight increase of a little over 3% compared to the week before.

Leaping from eighth to fifth, NHL hockey started its own playoffs with a 69.1% increase in TV ad impressions week over week. In its final week of the season, American Idol went from 29th in terms of impressions to 18th with 492 million.

CBS remained in first place by network rankings with 7.9 billion TV ad impressions (a very slight decline of 1.7% compared to the previous week). The American Idol finale and NBA games were a big part of ABC’s 21.7% week over week increase, and jump to second place overall. NBC saw a minor week over week decline (3.2%) while moving down from second to third in the rankings. ESPN leapt from eighth to fifth with some help from NBA play-in and playoff games, increasing TV ad impressions by nearly 72% from the previous week. Finishing 24th this week, USA Network had its own major increase in impressions (over 57%) due to WWE Monday Night Raw and the NHL Playoffs.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of May 10-16, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

NBA basketball held on to first place for watch-time, receiving 1.04% of all minutes watched during the week. Elsewhere in the sports world, MLB baseball and PGA Tour golf both saw week-over-week decreases, while NHL hockey, which wasn’t previously in the top 50 by watch-time, jumped into the ranking at No. 14. Thanks in part to syndicated reruns on USA Network and ION, Chicago P.D. rose up the ranking to fourth place, surpassing Today.

NBC took first place on the network ranking (7.24% of watch-time), fueled in part by NHL hockey and The Voice. ABC remained steady in third, while Fox News surpassed Fox with 4.30% and 4.14% of minutes watched, respectively. TNT had the biggest week-over-week ranking increase, up to No. 11 from No. 16, thanks in part to NBA basketball games. And although it had less than 1% of network watch-time (0.99%), MTV landed in the ranking at No. 25.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

For the second week in a row, Good Morning America was No. 1 for TV ad impressions, with its 892.3 million constituting a modest 5.67% week-over-week decrease in impressions. NBA basketball was also down. Its 827 million impressions represented an 8.55% decrease from the previous week. MLB baseball’s 549.5 million impressions was a slight uptick from the previous week, while PGA Tour Golf had a 23.8% week-over-week decrease in impressions and NHL hockey rocketed into eighth place with 503.9 million TV ad impressions. The Voice — which aired two episodes — jumped up to No. 11 from No. 24 the previous week, with 485 million impressions.

CBS stayed in first place on the network ranking, edging up from 7.5 billion impressions last week to 7.9 billion. Thanks in part to The Voice and NHL hockey, NBC had an 18.17% week-over-week increase, with its 6 billion impressions landing it in second place. Fox News also saw a bump, with its 4.4 billion impressions representing a 15.40% increase from the previous week. After a week absent from the top 25, Lifetime rejoined the ranking with 305.9 million impressions, fueled by new episodes of Married at First Sight and Married at First Sight Australia.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of May 3-9, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio's Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio's TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

NBA basketball was back in first place for watch-time, capturing 1.10% of all live, linear minutes watched during the week. Good Morning America rose to second place (0.94%), bumping Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (0.94%) down to third. MLB baseball and PGA Tour Golf rose up the rankings week over week, as did Mom and ABC World News Tonight With David Muir, which were not previously in the top 25. Criminal Minds made an appearance at No. 22 after previously not being in the top 50.

CBS was back on top of the network ranking, grabbing 6.92% of watch-time for the week, while NBC slipped to second place (6.66%). ABC remained steady and Fox surpassed Fox News, 4.06% vs 3.70% of minutes watched. ION had one of the largest week-over-week increases, up to 10th from No. 15 the previous week, and A&E, which wasn’t in the ranking previously, snuck in at No. 25 (0.98%).

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Good Morning America took first place for TV ad impressions, with its 945.9 million representing a 13.73% increase from the previous week. NBA basketball also saw a week-over-week increase, up 33% to 904.2 million impressions. Both PGA Tour Golf and MLB baseball made the top 10, at sixth and seventh places, respectively. The Voice had a decrease in impressions from the previous week, down 25.72% to 321.2 million TV ad impressions.

CBS continues to reign supreme on the network ranking, racking up 7.5 billion TV ad impressions, followed by ABC (5.3 billion), NBC (5.1 billion) and Fox News (3.8 million). Spanish-language network Galavision, which wasn’t previously on the ranking, landed at No. 25 with 254.8 million impressions. Univision and Telemundo each had over 1 billion, while UniMás generated 431.5 million impressions. TNT, which was absent from the top 25 the week before, jumped up to No. 17, with 85.5% of its 428.7 million impressions coming from NBA games.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of April 26 through May 2, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

The NFL Draft jumped into first place, capturing 2.66% of all minutes watched during the week. The Kentucky Derby also made the top 10, coming in at No. 8 with 0.67% of watch-time. Home Town on HGTV rocketed up the ranking from No. 25 to No. 15, while Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives also saw a notable week-over-week increase.

Thanks in part to the 147th Kentucky Derby, NBC took first place on the network ranking, with 6.69% of all minutes watched. CBS moved up a notch to No. 2, while ABC and Fox both slipped down one place; TNT was another network that dropped in the chart week-over-week, down to No. 18 from No. 11 previously. Bravo, which wasn’t on the ranking last time, moved into No. 23 with 1.07% of watch-time for the week.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

The 2021 NFL Draft was the only program to generate over 1 billion TV ad impressions during the week, with the top count (615.4 million impressions) coming from ESPN. Both NBA basketball and MLB baseball slipped in the rankings: NBA was down from first place to No. 6 with a 45.8% week-over-week decrease in impressions, while MLB saw a 11.63% decrease, down to 564.6 million TV ad impressions.The 147th Kentucky Derby landed in the top 10 with 573.9 million impressions and PGA Tour Golf had an 11% week-over-week impression increase.

Once again, CBS takes first place, and saw a 32.61% week-over-week increase in TV ad impressions, up to 7.7 billion. Thanks in part to the NFL Draft, ESPN also had an increase in impressions, up to 2.3 billion from 1.8 billion the previous week. Lifetime and The CW were two newcomers to the ranking. Lifetime delivered 327.5 million TV ad impressions, 42% of which came from Married at First Sight. The CW generated 304.8 million TV ad impressions, led by new episodes of All American, Kung Fu, William & Kate’s Royal Anniversary and Supergirl.

Verizon Media and Vizio announced a data and inventory agreement that will make Verizon Media the exclusive DSP user of smart TV viewing data from Vizio’s Inscape unit starting in 2022. 

The Trade Desk currently uses Inscape data to target and optimize connected TV ad campaigns. Both DSPs will use the data until Verizon Media’s exclusivity kicks in next year.

“Vizio has built a CTV advertising ecosystem centered around premium partnerships and our direct-to-device offering,” said Mike O’Donnell, chief revenue officer, Platform Plus at Vizio. “Our relationship with Verizon Media will enable us to expand our reach, bridge the gap between TV and mobile, and create more impactful and actionable premium advertising experiences across platforms.”

The deal enhances Vizio’s ad retargeting product, Household Connect. Through Verizon Media’s ad platform, Vizio can offer audience extension campaigns to advertisers that are fueled by Verizon Media’s unique omnichannel marketplace and diverse cross-device Identity Graph, matched with near real-time Inscape ACR data.

Vizio, sells ads to viewers on its smart TV platform, remains the exclusive seller of its guaranteed inventory and data licensing. The new agreement now also makes Verizon Media Vizo’s preferred supply-side platform for programmatic ad monetization.

“The evolving TV landscape creates unique opportunities and challenges for our customers. To meet and exceed the needs for growth in this area, we continue to strengthen our unified ad stack, which is an end-to-end, integrated ecosystem that delivers sustainable Identity, access to premium inventory and data, and the tools that drive performance and efficiency,” said Iván Markman, chief business officer, Verizon Media.

“This partnership with Vizio illustrates the deep and meaningful integrations we can forge, and reflects our commitment to leading in the CTV space. Together, we’re empowering our advertisers with exclusive data from the industry’s top hardware and software provider, and strengthening our solutions for publishers,” Markman said.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of April 19-25, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

The top of the show ranking was steady week-over-week, with NBA again taking first place with 1.40% of all minutes watched, an increase from the previous week’s 1.26% share duration. MLB baseball games also scored more watch-time, 0.83% vs. 0.80% the week before. The Oscars snagged No. 15 (0.45%), while The Big Bang Theory jumped into 18th place from No. 26 the previous week. NCIS, which wasn’t in the top 50 before, came in at No. 21 with 0.39% of all minutes watched.

ABC took the top spot for the second week in a row, capturing 6.85% of watch-time, while NBC jumped into second with 6.77% and Fox grabbed fourth (4.41%). TNT was another network that marched up the chart, moving into 11th place from No. 18, thanks in part to NBA basketball games and reruns of NCIS: New Orleans. The Discovery Channel also had a notable upswing, from No. 27 to No. 22; on the flip side, ION dropped from No. 11 to No. 19 week-over-week.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

NBA basketball remains king of TV ad impressions, with games generating nearly 1.3 billion impressions during the week. MLB baseball moved up the ranking, with its 638.9 million impressions constituting a 6.78% week-over-week increase. Elsewhere in the sports world, PGA Tour Golf had an 18.3% decrease in impressions, while NASCAR Cup Series jumped into the ranking with 382.4 million impressions. The Oscars made the cut as well, coming in at No. 20 with 337.3 million TV ad impressions.

CBS continues to be a TV ad impression powerhouse, although it saw a 14.01% week-over-week decrease in impressions. MSNBC surpassed CNN to move up one position in the ranking, taking fifth place with 2.5 billion impressions. MLB Network saw a week-over-week increase, up to 945.3 million impressions from 786.6 the previous week. A&E was a newcomer to the ranking, coming in at No. 24 with 297 million impressions, fueled in part by Biography: "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, The First 48 and Hoarders.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of April 12-18, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

NBA basketball jumped to the top of the ranking, scoring 1.26% of all live, linear minutes watched during the week, followed by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1.00%) and Good Morning America (0.94%). MLB baseball made the top five (0.80%), while the 56th Academy of Country Music Awards took No. 20 with 0.42% of watch-time. Only two shows saw a ranking decrease week-over-week: SportsCenter, which dropped to No. 14 from No. 11, and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, which took No. 25 after being at No. 20 the previous week.

ABC ousted long-time ranking leader CBS, capturing 6.77% of watch-time, compared to the latter’s 6.70%. Fox News, Fox, Hallmark, ION, TNT and TV Land all maintained their positions week-over-week, while MSNBC had the biggest change, up to No. 9 from No. 16 the previous week. Thanks in part to reruns of Rizzoli & Isles, Lifetime also moved up a few places, taking No. 21 with 1.16% of minutes watched. Bravo and A&E were two newcomers to the chart, landing at No. 23 and No. 25, respectively.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

The only programming to surpass one billion TV ad impressions during the week was NBA basketball, with 1.2 billion. MLB baseball and PGA Tour Golf scored top marks, with MLB delivering 598.3 million TV ad impressions and PGA generating 464.1 million. American Idol rose from 10th to sixth place, with its 627.9 million TV ad impressions constituting a 5.66% increase from the previous week. The 56th Academy of Country Music Awards came in at No. 15 with 446.6 million TV ad impressions, while The Voice took No. 19 (406.3 million).

On the network side of things, once again, CBS claimed first place with 6.7 billion TV ad impressions, a little over one billion fewer than the previous week. Daytime programming delivered top impression-counts for the network, led by The Price Is Right (708 million impressions) and The Young and the Restless (645.7 million impressions), while the ACM awards delivered about 6.7% of CBS’ impressions for the week. Fox had an 85.75% week-over-week increase in impressions, up to 1.1 billion. NASCAR Cup Series delivered 230.6 million impressions for the network, while The Masked Singer generated 129.1 million. Headline News moved up the ranking slightly week-over-week, with coverage of the Derek Chauvin trial accounting for 57% of the network’s total impressions.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of April 5-11, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

The 2021 Masters Tournament took first place, capturing 2.70% of all minutes watched, while the NCAA men’s basketball tournament was in second place (0.94%). MLB baseball and NBA basketball both made the top 10 for watch-time, with 0.89% and 0.79%, respectively. Ranking newcomers for the week included Gunsmoke, which was at No. 19 (0.45% of all minutes watched) and The Price Is Right (No. 22, 0.42%). American Idol remained at No. 25, with a slight increase in watch-time from the previous week (0.40% vs. 0.39%).

Also Read: Just How Much of a Slam Dunk Has March Madness Been on Live TV?

CBS continued to reign supreme on the network ranking, snagging 9% of watch-time, up from 7.51% the previous week, thanks in part to the 2021 Masters Tournament and the NCAA basketball tournament. The Masters also helped boost ESPN and Golf Channel up in the chart: ESPN took sixth place with 2.58% of all minutes watched, while Golf Channel was No. 25 (1.02%). TBS, which had been benefiting from March Madness games over the last few weeks, dropped to No. 14 from ninth place; MSNBC also slipped in the rankings, down to No. 16 from No. 10 the week before.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Once again, college basketball was No. 1 for TV ad impressions, 930.7 million, a 74.82% week-over-week decrease as March Madness and the NCAA tournament came to a close. NBA basketball took third place with 729.3 million impressions, a 55% increase from the previous week. The 2021 Masters Tournament and Live From the Masters were neck and neck with 636.1 million impressions vs. 625 million, respectively, and MLB baseball made the top 10 with 622 million impressions, a slight 5.6% week-over-week increase.

CBS maintained its first-place position, although its 7.9 billion TV ad impressions constituted a minor week-over-week decrease. Both ABC and NBC had slight upticks in impressions from the week before, generating 5.6 billion and 4.9 billion, respectively, compared to 5.4 billion and 4.7 billion. Golf Channel jumped into 10th place from No. 17, with its 629.8 million impressions fueled almost entirely by Live From the Masters. MLB Network and Fox Sports 1 were close behind, each generating over 621 million TV ad impressions. Headline News took No. 19 with 369.1 million impressions, driven largely by The Death of George Floyd: Derek Chauvin on Trial.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of March 29 through April 4, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Unsurprisingly, March Madness games captured the most watch-time for the week, accounting for 2.95% of all live, linear minutes. Meanwhile, MLB baseball, which just kicked off its season, took fourth place with 0.88% of minutes watched, and SportsCenter zoomed up the ranking into No. 7 from No. 22 the previous week. Other shows that had notable week-over-week rankings increases included Law & Order (0.48%, up from No. 30 to No. 17) and SpongeBob SquarePants (0.44% of minutes watched, at No. 19 from No. 26 previously).

On the network ranking, CBS was in first place once again, but saw a week-over-week decrease in the percent of minutes watched, down to 7.51% from 8.27%. NBC moved into second place (7.01%), followed by ABC (6.70%), Fox News (4.02%) and Fox (3.74%). Multiple networks moved up the ranking from the previous week including CNN, ESPN, ION, Investigation Discovery and Food Network, while HGTV, TBS, USA, TNT and Univision dropped positions from the week before.

Also Read: Just How Much of a Slam Dunk Has March Madness Been on Live TV?

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

College basketball continued its domination, racking up 3.7 billion TV ad impressions during the week. American Idol broke into the top five with 659.7 million impressions, beating MLB games, which generated 589 million impressions. The Price Is Right and The Young and the Restless were the only other non-sports or news programs to make the top 10. NBA basketball, which was in fifth place for impressions the previous week, dropped to No. 10 (470.5 million impressions); PGA Tour golf also slipped down the ranking, from No. 2 to No. 14 (427.5 million impressions).

The top of the network ranking was stable week-over-week, led by CBS (8.1 billion TV ad impressions), ABC (5.4 billion) and NBC (4.7 billion). March Madness games accounted for over 34% of the impressions on CBS, while morning news shows were top drivers of impressions for both ABC and NBC (GMA and Today, respectively). MLB Network gained steam from the previous week, rising up to No. 12 with 559.8 million impressions. On the flip side, Golf dropped from No. 12 to No. 17, generating 377.8 million impressions during the period measured. Headline News was a ranking newcomer, with 58% of its 362.2 million impressions coming from The Death of George Floyd: Derek Chauvin on Trial.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Mar. 22-28, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

For the second week in a row, March Madness led for watch-time, capturing 4.78% of all minutes watched during the week. PGA Tour golf swung into second place (1.16%), while the NCAA women’s basketball tournament took No. 6 (0.74%) and NBA games were right behind with 0.71% of watch-time. American Idol, which was previously not in the top 50 shows watched, broke into the ranking at No. 16 (0.46%).

CBS maintained its hold on first place for the network ranking (8.27% of minutes watched), with an assist from March Madness games, CBS This Morning and The Price Is Right. Marathons of Ridiculousness helped move MTV into the ranking, up to No. 24 from No. 27 the previous week, while Lifetime benefited from reruns of Rizzoli & Isles, taking No. 23 with 1.10% of the week’s watch-time.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

College basketball was the primary driver of impressions during the week, but its 7 billion was a 24.37% decrease from the previous week. PGA Tour golf and NBA basketball also made the top five shows by impressions, with 906.1 million and 627 million, respectively, while women’s college basketball games came in at No. 7 (568.6 million). The top non-news or sports show by impressions was American Idol (623.9 million); others included The Price Is Right (542.3 million), The Young and the Restless (510.3 million), General Hospital (386.1 million), The Voice (366.8 million), Let’s Make a Deal (328.5 million) and Days of our Lives (326.9 million).

There was no shuffling among the first eight positions of the network ranking week-over-week: CBS led the pack with 9.9 billion impressions, followed by ABC (6 billion) and NBC (4.6 billion). Not only did March Madness deliver half of the total impressions on CBS (4.5 billion), games also accounted for 94.5% of all of the impressions from new programming on TBS, and 41.3% of TNT’s impressions. History Channel had a 54.17% week-over-week increase in impressions, moving from No. 28 the previous week up to No. 17, thanks in part to the Barrett-Jackson Live Auction. Hallmark also saw an increase in impressions, up 14.8% to 310.4 million, fueled by the network’s new original movie Don't Go Breaking My Heart (183.9 million impressions) and a new episode of When Calls the Heart (110 million impressions).

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Mar. 15-21, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

March Madness captured the most watch-time during the week by far, accounting for 6.65% of all minutes, with 3.17% coming from games broadcast on CBS. Other sports-related programming that rose up the ranking included NBA basketball, PGA Tour golf and SportsCenter. Police procedurals Chicago P.D., Blue Bloods and NCIS moved up the chart, while shows that slipped week-over-week included Friends, Two and a Half Men, Home Town and The Voice. 

Also Read: NCAA March Madness Tourney Generating Record Ad Sales, Execs Say

The 2021 NCAA Basketball Tournament helped propel CBS into first place, with the network capturing 8.25% of all minutes watched during the week. March Madness also fueled a few other networks’ move up the ranking, including TBS (2.75% of watch-time), TNT (2.10%) and truTV (1.07%). Bravo got a slight bump up, taking No. 22 with 1.13% of minutes watched, thanks in part to reruns of Below Deck Mediterranean.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Thanks to March Madness, college basketball games generated an astounding 9.3 billion TV ad impressions — nearly as many as CBS had in total for new episodes (10.1 billion). It was the only programming to receive over a billion impressions for the week; Good Morning America took second place with 883.3 million, a 15.92% increase from the previous week. The Bachelor saw an 81.89% week-over-week increase in impressions, up to 567.4 million, while The Voice’s 430.6 million impressions constituted a 26.76% decrease from the previous week.

CBS had nearly twice as many TV ad impressions (10.1 billion) as the second-place network, ABC (5.2 billion), and half of those impressions came from college basketball. MSNBC saw a 59.73% increase in impressions week-over-week, up to 3.1 billion and edging out CNN (2.5 billion impressions). After a week off the ranking, TBS came back strong with 2.3 billion impressions, primarily fueled by March Madness games. TNT and truTV also benefited from the tournament, with 1.5 billion and 840 million impressions, respectively.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Mar. 8-14, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

College basketball retained its grip on the top of the ranking, capturing 2.64% of all minutes watched during the week. The PGA Tour’s 2021 Players Championship came in second place (1.42%), followed by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (0.98%). The Voice rose from tenth to seventh place week-over-week, and essentially tied with the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, both with 0.63% of watch-time. Dateline: Secrets Uncovered was a new entrant to the ranking, taking No. 23 with 0.43%.

Thanks in part to the 2021 Players Championship and The Voice, NBC moved into first place, capturing 7.72% of all minutes watched last week. ABC, Fox, Fox News Channel, CNN, Nickelodeon, Bravo and TV Land all maintained their ranking positions week-over-week, while Ion Television had the biggest increase among the networks, moving from No. 15 to No. 12, thanks in part to reruns of Blue Bloods and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. 

Top Shows and TV Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

March Madness is approaching, and TV ad impressions for college basketball are going up: There was a 44.57% week-over-week increase, up to 2.3 billion, for games during the last week. The Voice rose up the ranking to fourth place with 587.8 million TV ad impressions, while the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards snagged seventh place with 506.3 million TV ad impressions. Impressions for The Bachelor edged up to 312 million, a 9.86% increase from the previous week. 

CBS continues to rule the network rankings, with its 5.9 billion TV ad impressions constituting a slight 1.61% increase from the previous week, driven in part by The Price Is Right, college basketball and the Grammys. Thanks in part to The Voice and the 2021 Players Championship, NBC rose up to second place with 4.2 billion impressions. TLC was another network with a week-over-week increase: it snagged 494.9 million impressions, with top shows including 90 Day Fiancé, Sister Wives and My 600-Lb. Life. Notably absent is TBS, which was No. 14 on the ranking the previous week but dropped to No. 63 (44.2 million impressions). 

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of March 1-7, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Once again, college basketball takes first place, with 1.65% of all watch-time during the week, followed by PGA Tour Golf (1.0%). NBA basketball, which was second place the previous week, dropped to No. 9 with 0.58% of minutes watched, while the 2021 NBA All-Star Game took No. 15 with 0.52%. The season 20 premiere of The Voice on NBC made the top 10 (0.57% of watch-time), while Oprah’s interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on CBS came in at No. 12 (0.55% of all minutes watched during the week). It’s also worth noting that for March 7, the Oprah interview was the No. 1 most-watched show that day (3.44% of all minutes watched).

Also Read: ‘Oprah With Meghan and Harry’ Was the Top Live, Linear Program on Sunday

On the network side of things, CBS took first place with 7.07% of minutes watched, thanks in part to college basketball games and Oprah’s interview with Meghan and Harry. With an assist from NBA basketball, TNT rose up to 10th place from No. 13 the previous week, capturing 1.80% of watch-time. TBS also saw a week-over-week ranking increase, taking No. 11 with 1.71%, thanks in part to reruns of Friends and The Big Bang Theory, as well as the NBA All-Star Game.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

College basketball games generated nearly 1.6 billion TV ad impressions during the week, while NBA games had 1.2 billion impressions. PGA Tour Golf came in third with 704.8 million impressions. The premiere of The Voice came in at No. 8 (533 million TV ad impressions), while Oprah With Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special took ninth (515.8 million impressions). The Bachelor squeaked into the top 25, with 284 million TV ad impressions, a 19.62% week-over-week decrease.

The top of the rankings was steady week-over-week, with CBS on top. Its 5.8 billion TV ad impressions constituted a 12.30% increase from the previous week, fueled in part by The Price Is Right and Oprah’s interview with Meghan and Harry. TNT saw a notable 101.27% increase in impressions week-over-week, with NBA basketball games accounting for over 63% of impressions. Discovery Channel was another network with a week-over-week increase, up 32.44% to 625.1 million, thanks in part to new episodes of Naked and Afraid: Gimme Shelter and Gold Rush.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of  Feb. 22-28, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Sports continue to capture the most watch-time, led by college basketball (1.56% of all minutes watched), followed by NBA games (1.16%) and PGA Tour Golf (0.92%). SportsCenter also saw increased viewership (0.51%), up to No. 13 from No. 23 the previous week. Thanks in part to marathons, Home Town and The First 48 jumped up the ranking, to No. 10 and No. 23, respectively. Aside from college basketball, only three other programs maintained their ranking week-over-week: Good Morning America, Ridiculousness and ABC World News Tonight With David Muir.

Thanks in part to PGA Tour Golf and the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards, NBC rose into first place with 6.84% of minutes watched during the week. Hallmark had the biggest ranking jump compared to the previous week, up to No. 10 from No. 16, with help from marathons of The Golden Girls. Chart newcomers compared to the previous week included MTV and A&E, taking No. 24 and No. 25, respectively, fueled by marathons of their own (Ridiculousness and The First 48).

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

College basketball squeezed past the NBA to take first place for TV ad impressions, with games generating over 1.44 billion impressions vs. 1.41 billion. PGA Tour Golf took third place with 778 million impressions, a 50.12% week-over-week increase. The 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards generated 346.8 million TV ad impressions while American Idol, which aired at the same time, generated 282 million impressions.

CBS maintained its first-place position, receiving slightly more TV ad impressions (5.2 billion) compared to the previous week (4.9 billion), driven in part by new episodes of The Price Is Right, The Young and the Restless and CBS This Morning — although college basketball also contributed 351 million TV ad impressions to the network’s total. Golf rose up the ranking to No. 12 with 511.1 million TV ad impressions, 67% of which came from PGA Tour broadcasts. HGTV also saw a week-over-week increase, up to 446.2 million impressions from the previous week’s 379.8 million, with Home Town delivering the top impression-count for the network (89.1 million).

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Feb. 15-21, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Various sports marched up the ranking, led by college basketball which took first place for watch-time (1.19%). NBA games captured 1.15% of all minutes watched, putting it in third place, while PGA Tour golf grabbed 0.82%, securing it No. 5. NHL hockey squeaked into the ranking at No. 25 with 0.38% of all minutes watched. After a week off, Ridiculousness came back into the top 25 in seventh place, while Rizzoli & Isles jumped from No. 43 to No. 24 week-over-week.

On the network side of things, ABC and NBC both rose up the ranking, taking first and second places with 6.70% and 6.65% of watch-time, respectively, while CBS slipped to third (6.61%). Among the networks that maintained ranking positions: Fox (No. 4), ESPN (No. 9), the Discovery Channel (No. 22) and Lifetime (No. 23); Hallmark had the biggest week-over-week drop, down to No. 16 from No. 10. Bravo was the one newcomer compared to the previous week, at No. 24 with 1.07% of minutes watched.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Impression-counts for both NBA and college basketball games stayed mostly steady week-over-week, and as such, they remained in first and second place, respectively. The Price Is Right jumped into third place with 734.1 million TV ad impressions, a 25.58% increase from the previous week. That show, along with The Young and the Restless, were the only non-sports or news programs in the top 10. Weather Channel’s live coverage of Winter Storm Shirley came in at No. 14 with 397.8 million TV ad impressions, while The Bachelor generated 330.6 million impressions, putting it at No. 22. American Idol just missed the ranking, coming in at No. 26 (292 million TV ad impressions).

Once again, CBS took first place on the network ranking with 5 billion TV ad impressions, followed by ABC (4.6 billion). Fox News was third with 4 billion, a 20.13% week-over-week increase. Bravo picked up steam, with a 16.43% increase in impressions from the previous week, thanks in part to Below Deck, while TNT rebounded compared to the week before, with 426.4 million of its 536 million TV ad impressions coming from NBA basketball games. MTV rounded out the ranking with 249.6 million TV ad impressions, fueled in part by The Challenge and Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of  Feb. 8-14, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Vizio’s Inscape, the TV data company with insights from a panel of millions of active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Coverage of former President Trump’s second impeachment trial took the top two spots for watch-time, with CNN’s broadcast at No. 1, accounting for 2.36% of all minutes watched during the week. College and NBA basketball remained in the top five, while other sports broadcasts made the ranking including PGA Tour Golf, the 2021 Australian Open and the 2021 Daytona 500. Blue Bloods, Home Town and Family Feud each jumped into the top 25 after being absent the previous week.

Also Read: Media Plays Central Role in Second Donald Trump Impeachment

Once again, CBS took first place (6.92% of all minutes watched), but ABC and NBC were close behind, with 6.42% and 6.37%, respectively. CNN and Fox News swapped places compared to the previous week, thanks in part to CNN’s coverage of the impeachment trial, while the other networks in the top 10 maintained their rank week-over-week. Propelled partially by The First 48, A&E made it into the top 25 for the first time in a while.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

NBA games took first place for TV ad impressions with 1.4 billion, a slight 1.76% week-over-week decrease. College basketball followed closely behind with 1.1 billion impressions, a 10.74% decrease compared to the previous week. And while PGA Tour Golf had a 2.27% week-over-week decrease in impressions, it jumped up from 10th to fifth place compared to the previous week. The Daytona 500 just made the top 10, coming in at No. 9 with 511.4 million impressions, while The Bachelor jumped from No. 24 to No. 14 this time, with its 374.9 million impressions representing a 9.06% week-over-week increase.

Also Read: Sports and OTT: Streaming Could Squeeze the Last Vestige of Appointment TV

CBS retained its No. 1 position with over 5 billion TV ad impressions, followed by ABC (4.2 billion) and NBC (3.5 billion). The rest of the top 10 included the usual suspects such as CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, ESPN, among others, and notably the Weather Channel was the only top-10 network that had fewer than 1 billion impressions — 890.3 million, a 52.76% week-over-week increase, thanks in part to coverage of Winter Storm Shirley. On the flip side, TNT was among the networks that had week-over-week decreases in impressions, dropping from No. 11 to 18 with 405.6 million impressions, a 41.27% decrease.

The Super Bowl has come and gone, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ emerging victorious by a comfortable margin over the Kansas City Chiefs. Below, a quick look at viewing trends from Vizio’s Inscape, the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. And because Big Game action isn’t just confined to TV screens — social platforms are awash with content, starting weeks before kick off— you’ll also see some social video insights from Tubular Labs. 

As you’d expect, the game commanded a large percentage of watch-time during the day: Per Inscape, of all the live, linear minutes watched on Feb. 7, nearly a third (27.37%) of the time was spent watching Super Bowl LV. For a match-up that was losing its competitive edge by halftime, viewership stayed fairly steady overall, peaking at 8:04 p.m. ET before gradually trailing off during the second half.

Also Read: Super Bowl Viewership Drops to 96.4 Million

Unsurprisingly, local area markets around Kansas City and Tampa Bay were among the top for tune-in, but people in Boston — former home of now-Buccaneers Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski — were also watching at a notable rate.

Also Read: Watch the Super Bowl LV Commercials

What did people watch before, during and after the Big Game?

The CBS pregame shows dominated for what people tuned into before kickoff, and The Equalizer premiere immediately following the game won out for what people watched after. Additionally, multiple networks were running marathons over the course of the evening, with shows including Hawaii Five-0, Home Town, Law & Order: SVU, Chopped, etc, which all maintained a baseline of viewers before, during and after. 

Diving into specifics, and discounting the pregame shows, before the game began, people were most likely to be watching Hawaii Five-0, Home Town, Law & Order: SVU, Modern Marvels, Puppy Bowl XVII, and Chopped. During the game, America’s Funniest Home Videos was the favored choice by a visible margin, but the marathons of Home Town, Hawaii Five-0 and Law & Order: SVU also took viewers away from the game. After the final whistle, aside from The Equalizer, many people switched over to Dateline NBC and Shark Tank.

Also Read: NFL Regular Season Ad Revenue up 5%: SMI

The Top Super Bowl Twitter Video Creators

While the Super Bowl generated plenty of action on the field, there was lots off of it as well. According to Tubular Labs, from Feb. 1-7, Super Bowl-related content generated over 161 million video views on Twitter. The NFL owned its main event on social video throughout last week in the lead-up to and during the game. However, brands still found ways to get involved in Big Game hype — whether they were advertisers or not.

Tubular Labs shared which Twitter video creators scored the most when it came to views in the last week. While advertisers are all over the list, it’s also worth noting that many used NFL players as well to get their messages out. Of the top 20 Super Bowl videos on Twitter, six were from NFL players serving as influencers.

Here were the top creators by Twitter video views:

1. NFL (38.9 million views)
2. Verizon (31.2 million)
3. Anheuser-Busch (5.9 million)
4. Chester Cheetah (3.9 million)
5. Nike Football (3.9 million)
6. The Tonight Show (2.5 million)
7. Saquon Barkley (2.4 million)
8. NFL Mexico (2.2 million)
9. Rocket Mortgage (2.2 million)
10. Ryan Tannehill (2.2 million)

The most-seen videos were also full of top advertisers from the game itself:

1. Verizon: Live, After #SBLV (19.4 million views)
2. NFL: For the 10th time, @TomBrady arrives for the #SuperBowl (6.6 million)
3. Anheuser-Busch: Introducing our first-ever Super Bowl commercial (5.9 million)
4. Verizon: Verizon 5G Stadium in @FortniteGame Creative is NOW OPEN! (5.2 million)
5. Lil Nas X: I narrated a commercial for the super bowl you guys (4.4 million)
6. NFL: Send a message to your team using #RunItBack and #GoBucs (4.1 million)
7. Nike Football: 1 million more boys that girls get to play sports in high school (3.9 million)
8. Chester Cheetah: Mila and Ashton? Shaggy?? Cheetos #CrunchPopMix???? (3.7 million)
9. Saquon Barkley: Black-owned small businesses need our help, now more than ever (2.4 million)
10. The Tonight Show: Mike Myers & @DanaCarvey show Jimmy some of the bits they were doing on the set of their upcoming #SuperBowl commercial! (2.3 million)

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of  Feb. 1-7, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Vizio’s Inscape, the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

As you’d expect, the No. 1 program from Feb. 1-7 was Super Bowl LV, capturing 5.44% of all minutes watched. The only non-sports show in the top five was The Equalizer, which premiered on CBS immediately following the Big Game and grabbed 0.89% of watch-time for the week. Its appearance, along with a few other Super Bowl-related telecasts, resulted in multiple shows slipping in the ranking compared to the previous week. The programs that did see week-over-week rank increases included The Golden Girls, Gunsmoke and Love It or List It.

Also Read: Paramount Plus Gets Big Chunk of Super Bowl Promo Time

CBS remained in first place — and nearly doubled its percentage of minutes watched week-over-week, up to 12.43%, thanks in part to the Super Bowl and related coverage. NBC and ABC swapped places compared to the previous week, while all the other top-10 networks maintained their ranking positions. TNT jumped up to No. 11 with an assist from NBA basketball games, capturing 1.63% of watch-time.

Now that the NFL season has come to a close, what other TV shows are football fans watching? Inscape’s crossover data reveals that (not counting news or sports programming), reality, game show and comedy series lead the list, many of them from NBC.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Naturally, the Super Bowl was No. 1 for TV ad impressions, racking up 6.3 billion (down slightly from last year’s 6.7 billion). The two pre-game shows from CBS also made the top 10: The Super Bowl Today generated 992 million TV ad impressions, while Super Bowl Kickoff Show had 639.7 million impressions. There were only four non-sports/news programs on the ranking this time, led by The Price Is Right, coming in at No. 9 with 629.3 million impressions, a 15.86% increase from the previous week.

Also Read: State Farm, Dexcom Super Bowl Spots Score With Ad Research Firms

Thanks in part to the Big Game, CBS scored nearly three times more TV ad impressions than any other network last week (12.8 billion). NBC and ABC were neck and neck in second and third places, each with around 4.6 billion impressions. The remaining top 10 networks kept their ranking positions week-over-week, with minor changes to total impression counts. Propelled by its annual Puppy Bowl, Animal Planet jumped up from No. 33 to No. 21 with 341.3 million TV ad impressions, a 115.97% week-over-week increase. Golf was another network that rose up the ranking, landing at No. 20 with 342.8 million impressions, a 23.88% increase from the previous week.

Also Read: Watch the Super Bowl LV Commercials

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Jan. 25-31, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Vizio’s Inscape, the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

With no NFL games until the Super Bowl next Sunday, first place on the show ranking went to college basketball last week, capturing 1.12% of watch-time, followed by NBA basketball (1.01%). Notably, aside from Good Morning America and SportsCenter, every single program on the ranking moved up at least one spot compared to its position the previous week. Among the biggest leaps: NCIS: New Orleans, The First 48, The Price Is Right and Gunsmoke.

CBS kept its hold on first place, capturing 6.63% of minutes watched last week, followed by ABC (6.54%) and NBC (6.30%). MSNBC, Hallmark Channel, Univision, Nickelodeon and Discovery Channel held steady, while Lifetime continued its rise, moving into No. 21, with help from Rizzoli & Isles reruns and the premiere of Wendy Williams: The Movie.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

The only TV programming to snag more than a billion impressions last week was NBA basketball, with 1.2 billion. College basketball took second place (981.8 million impressions) followed by Today (734.7 million), Good Morning America (703.8 million) and SportsCenter (639.3 million). The Price Is Right jumped into sixth place with 543.2 million impressions, a 14.03% increase from the previous week. The Bachelor also saw a week-over-week increase in impressions, up 6.87% to 357.6 million. One new addition to the ranking was ¡Despierta América!, coming in at No. 25 with 277 million TV ad impressions.

Although CBS had a 38.24% week-over-week decrease in TV ad impressions, it still held on to first place, with The Price Is Right as its top impressions-generating show during the week. ABC jumped into second place with 4.9 billion impressions, a 25% increase from the previous week. History Channel saw a 53% week-over-week increase in TV ad impressions, propelling it up to No. 20 from No. 27 the previous week. Top impressions-generating shows on the network included The Curse of Oak Island, American Pickers and Swamp People: Blood and Guts.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Jan. 18-24, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Vizio’s Inscape, the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

NFL games continue to grab the most watch-time (5.62%), while both college and NBA basketball moved up the ranking into third and fourth places, respectively. Inauguration coverage on various networks also engaged viewers, and the simulcast inauguration night event “Celebrating America” took No. 15 on the chart with 0.51% of all live, linear minutes watched last week. Friends and SportsCenter kept their same rankings week-over-week (No. 13 and 14, respectively), while a few news programs from ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox News all moved up the chart.

With an assist from NFL games, CBS rose into first place for networks, capturing 8.41% of watch-time. NBA basketball helped TNT move up the ranking from No. 15 the previous week to No. 11 this time, with 1.67% of all live, linear minutes watched. Additional networks that moved up week-over-week included USA Network, TBS, ION, CW and Lifetime. Notably, Lifetime is the only new network in the top 25 this time (it was No. 27 the previous week). Reruns of Rizzoli & Isles, plus new episodes of Married at First Sight and the premiere of biopic Salt-N-Pepa all helped move Lifetime up the chart.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

NFL football, NBA and college basketball led the ranking and were the only programs to generate over one billion TV ad impressions during the week. Although NFL games received fewer impressions than the previous week, both NBA and college basketball games upped their impressions week-over-week as the seasons heat up. Aside from the normal news programs that consistently make the top 25, a few notable shows this time include CBS’ FBI, which was No. 8 with 545.8 million impressions — 10 million more than the inauguration special Celebrating America, which took ninth place. The Bachelor and NCIS also made the cut, at No. 20 and No. 22, respectively.

CBS maintained its first place position and saw a 14% week-over-week increase in TV ad impressions, fueled primarily by NFL games — but it’s worth noting that FBI was the second largest driver of impressions for the network. While Spanish-language networks Telemundo and Univision have consistently held spots in the middle of the ranking, last week UniMas jumped up, thanks in part to new episodes of Enamorándonos, a live matchmaking series. Golf was another ranking entrant that we haven’t seen in a while. It came in at No. 25 with 282.9 million impressions and brings the total number of sports-focused networks on the ranking to six.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Jan. 11-17, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Vizio’s Inscape, the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

When it comes to live TV, sports and news continue their domination, led by NFL games with 7.94% of all minutes watched, followed by the college football national championship (1.61%). CNN’s broadcast The 2nd Trump Impeachment Vote made it into the top 10 at No. 7 (0.76% of minutes watched). And, thanks in part to syndicated marathons, Chicago P.D. jumped up the ranking from No. 21 to No. 12, and Rizzoli & Isles broke into the top 25 after not previously being in the top 50. 

Also Read: College Football Championship, Impeachment Proceedings Propel ESPN, Cable News Networks Ratings

NBC remained in first place for the network ranking (7.65%), fueled in part by NFL football, Today and NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt, while NFL games and post-game coverage helped boost Fox into second place with 7.64% of all minutes watched. Networks that maintained rank position week-over-week included Fox News, HGTV, Investigation Discovery, MTV and TV Land.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Four out of the top five placements for TV ad impressions were sports-related, led by NFL games (9.3 billion impressions) and college football (1.8 billion). News programs were also prevalent throughout: CNN Newsroom took fifth place with 889.3 million TV ad impressions, a 39.97% week-over-week increase, while The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer, CNN Tonight With Don Lemon and Good Morning America all made the top 10. The only non-sports or news-related programming in the top 25: The Young and the Restless and The Price Is Right.

On the network side of things, CBS was first once again, although its 7.7 billion TV ad impressions constituted a 22.12% decrease from the previous week. CNN surpassed NBC to snag second place with 6.2 billion vs. 6.1 billion impressions, respectively.  Thanks in part to the NFL and related coverage, Fox jumped into fourth place with 5.6 billion TV ad impressions, a 70% week-over-week increase. Newsmax TV entered into the ranking for the first time, grabbing No. 25 with 256 million ad impressions.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Jan. 4-10, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv. 

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Vizio’s Inscape, the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

NFL games continue to capture the most minutes watched, up to 9.97% from the previous week’s 5.11%, thanks to a super-charged Wild Card Weekend with six nationally televised games. And due to the historic events that unfolded on Capitol Hill last week, many news programs jumped up the ranking. CNN’s coverage of the election certification (which then turned into broader coverage of the Capitol Hill events on Wednesday afternoon) and Georgia Senate runoffs were second and third, respectively. Of the top 25 programs, only six were not sports or news related.

Also Read: Networks Hustle to Cover Capitol Coup

On the network side of things, NBC and CBS both moved up the ranking with help from NFL games and news coverage, while cable news networks CNN, Fox News and MSNBC also rose up. The only networks to maintain their positions week-over-week were Fox, HGTV, Investigation Discovery and Food Network. With some help from a marathon of Hawaii Five-0, ION moved into No. 19 from No. 25. (Hawaii Five-0 was also the most-binged timeshifted show of the weekend.)

Inscape also shared a deeper look at cable news viewership during the Capitol Hill events on Jan. 6. CNN was No. 1 for live tune-in throughout the afternoon, with rising viewership that peaked right after 4 p.m. ET, as did Fox News; MSNBC viewership was highest closer to 4:30 p.m.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

TV ad impressions for NFL games were up 80% week-over-week to 12.7 billion, thanks to the Wild Card games, dwarfing other programs on the ranking. NBA and college basketball both made the top five, in third and fourth places, respectively. Multiple CNN programs made the ranking as well. Also notable: The season 25 premiere of The Bachelor on ABC, which generated 346.9 million impressions putting it at No. 21. There were only four non-sports or news programs in the ranking.

CBS and NBC led the network ranking, with NFL games accounting for about half of each’s total impressions for the week. With 6.5 billion impressions, CNN took third place, followed by ABC (6.3 billion) and Fox News (3.5 billion). MSNBC saw a notable 73% week-over-week increase in impressions as well, up to 2.7 billion, beating out Fox’s 2.5 billion. One ranking newcomer was Freeform (216.3 million impressions), thanks in part to the NFL Wild Card MegaCast that aired across various Disney-owned networks.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Dec. 28, 2020 through Jan. 3, 2021, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Vizio’s Inscape, the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Although NFL games remained No. 1 (5.11%) for watch-time as they have for weeks on end, college football bowl games captured numerous spots in the top 25 ranking. Also notable is the appearance of Las Vegas at No. 10 with 0.63% of all minutes watched, thanks to marathons on E! (it was also the sixth most binged time-shifted show for the week). Additionally, The First 48 jumped into the ranking at No. 24 with 0.40%, thanks to marathons on A&E, suggesting the network is aiming to get fans amped up for the new season, which premieres on Jan. 7.

Also Read: CBS, NFL Top 2020 By Ad Impressions

Fueled by college football and its bowl games over the new year holiday, ESPN snagged first place on the network ranking with 7.79% of minutes watched. While there were no ranking changes for second through fourth places — and Hallmark Channel stayed solid at No. 8 — the rest of the chart is notably different from what we’ve seen in the past, with many networks jostling into new positions. The CW, Bravo and ION were new entrants compared to the previous week, while AMC had one of the larger declines, going from No. 16 last week to No. 23 this time.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

College football squeaked past NFL games last week to snag the No. 1 spot for TV ad impressions, 7.6 billion vs. 7.1 billion. Three other college football-related programs rounded out the top five, pushing the usual suspects (morning news shows) down a notch for the week. The Price Is Right and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve telecasts were the only other non-sports or news programs in the top 25 — not surprising for a quiet holiday week with few of the regular staples airing new episodes.

ESPN took first place for TV ad impressions (8.9 billion), with 75% coming from college football games. With nearly 5.3 billion impressions, CBS took second with some help from NFL games and The Price Is Right. ESPNEWS rocketed into ninth place from 75th the previous week, propelled by college football and playoffs coverage. Animal Planet was another notable ranking newcomer, generating 275.8 million TV ad impressions, a third of which came from Pit Bulls & Parolees: My Favorite Moments.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Dec. 7-13, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Vizio’s Inscape, the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 16 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Last week, NFL games captured 6.66% of all minutes watched, a slight increase over the previous week when games only had 5.78% share duration. College football maintained its second-place position, while morning shows GMA and Today rose up, punting college basketball down the ranking to sixth. Thanks to some big marathons, shows including HGTV’s Home Town, NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans jumped into the top 25.

Fueled by NFL games, Fox jumped from fourth to first place with 8.37% of all minutes watched, followed by NBC (7.26%), CBS (6.70%) and ABC (6.51%). The middle of the ranking was remarkably steady week-over-week, although Univision and USA Network both rose up a few notches. The only ranking newcomer was TV Land, coming in at No. 24 (up from No. 26 the previous week) with 0.99% of all minutes watched.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

One glance at the chart below and you can see how NFL games completely dwarf everything else on TV when it comes to ad impressions, racking up 10.3 billion for Dec. 7-13. College football was the only other program to surpass a billion impressions (2.7 billion), while morning shows took third and fourth places. While The Voice was again in the top 10, it had a 30.92% week-over-week decrease in impressions, down to 497 million.

Thanks in part to NFL and college football, Fox jumped into first place with 7.4 billion impressions — a 209% week-over-week increase — while the other big broadcasters all experienced impressions decreases compared to the previous week. NFL Network also had a notable increase in impressions (252%), up to 1.3 billion. And while there was some shuffling going on in terms of the order week-over-week, there were no new networks in the top 25.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Nov. 30 through Dec. 6, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks 

Via Vizio’s Inscape, the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 16 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Although NFL games yet again captured the most watch-time, it was down to 5.78% vs. 8.41% the previous week. College football was in second place again (2.72% share duration), while college basketball jumped into third place from 10th previously, with 0.97% of all minutes watched. Various news programs rose up the ranking, as did The Voice and assorted shows that often run in marathons: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Chicago P.D., Law & Order and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

NFL games, Today and The Voice helped NBC take first place with 8.76% of minutes watched, followed by CBS (8.10%) and ABC (6.65%). Fox News and CNN both edged up a bit, but the biggest week-over-week jump up the ranking went to Freeform, which snagged No. 13 with 1.52% share duration, thanks to a bunch of classic Christmas movies that aired over the week. MSNBC, HGTV, Investigation Discovery, Food Network and Univision all held steady in the top 15.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

NFL games continue to dominate for TV ad impressions, but there was a week-over-week decrease, down to 7.4 billion from the previous 10.2 billion. College football also had a slightly lower count, 3.44 billion impressions vs. 3.87 billion last time. Meanwhile, college basketball jumped into third place with 864.5 million TV ad impressions and notably The Voice snagged fifth place (719.4 million impressions). Other non-news/sports programming in the top 25 included The Price Is Right, 88th Annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center, The Bachelorette, Let’s Make a Deal and The Masked Singer.

On the network side of things, CBS led the pack with 8.5 billion TV ad impressions, 2.8 billion of which came from NFL football games. NBC’s 7.2 billion impressions put it squarely in second place; NFL games also were a big impressions-driver, accounting for 2.4 billion of NBC’s impressions. Hallmark, on the other hand, experienced an over 50% week-over-week decrease in impressions, suggesting that with the long Thanksgiving holiday over, people didn’t have as much time to binge their ongoing slate of Christmas movies.