This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Nov. 9-15, 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).
For the first time, college football overtook NFL games for watch-time last week, with 3.68% of minutes watched vs. 2.09%. The 2020 Masters Tournament was third with 1.70% share duration. Various morning and news programs rose up the ranking compared to the previous week. Snapped, a true-crime reality series on Oxygen, was one notable ranking newcomer.
Also Read: Meeting the Challenge of a Most Unusual Sports Year
Thanks in part to college football, GMA and the 54th Annual CMA Awards, ABC took first place for watch-time (7.79%). NBC remained in second place (7.32%), while CBS took third (6.29%), propelled by the 2020 Masters Tournament and NFL games. Lifetime continued its march up the ranking, up to No. 20 from No. 25 in the previous 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 NFL is still the champ when it comes to TV ad impressions, but it’s seen slight declines in the past few weeks. For Nov. 9-15, games generated nearly 7.1 billion impressions, down from 7.3 billion the previous week; the week before that, games delivered 7.8 billion. College football took No. 2 with 2.8 billion impressions, followed by Good Morning America (754.3 million). The Voice jumped up the ranking, generating 630.5 million impressions, an increase from the previous week’s 402.1 million. The season 17 premiere of Grey’s Anatomy also made the top 25, coming in with 394.1 million — ahead of The Bachelorette (356.7 million).
Broadcast networks dominated the top of the ranking, led by ABC (6.5 billion impressions), over 1 billion of which came from college football games and 509.9 million from the 54th Annual CMA Awards. In general, football continues to be the biggest driver of impressions for broadcast networks, even amidst schedule changes and cancelled games due to COVID-19-related issues. On the non-sports side of things, Hallmark saw a 20% increase in impressions week-over-week, up to 450.8 million, as people started to tune in more to its ongoing Christmas-movie bonanza.
