Popular Teams Build TV Audiences Quicker

Every sports league has teams that are more popular than others, and it ends up that popularity typically helps games build audiences faster on TV. In its new report, Every Second Counts, iSpot data shows how national primetime games for the most popular teams outperform average ad impressions during early pods.

• For instance: The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics are two of the most popular NBA teams, and that not only brings expected large viewership at the start –counter to typical NBA viewing patterns that see audiences grow throughout.
• iSpot data shows that Pods 1, 2 and 3 of the typical early primetime game deliver impressions that are 68%, 72% and 75% of the most-viewed commercial pod in the average game, respectively.
• However, Lakers and Celtics games see the 1st, 2nd and 3rd pods out-deliver that average, with the Lakers hitting 80% of peak viewing by pod 3.