Sunday was a big night for music with CBS airing the 61st annual Grammys hosted by Alicia Keys. Awards went out to the industry's top artists, from Kacey Musgraves and Lady Gaga, to Cardi B, Drake and Childish Gambino, among others.
The biggest focus was on the performances, however, and several of them stole the show for audiences both on linear TV and social media. We worked with iSpot, Tubular Labs and Inscape to surface advertiser and viewer trends around the program.
Minute by Minute
According to Inscape, the ACR data company with opt-in screen level data from 10 million VIZIO TVs, the Grammys audience spent the majority of time on TV screens in 7% of households with an hour-long culmination starting on the rising trends driven by Dolly Parton that peaked for the start of H.E.R. and rebounded again during Alicia Keys’s performance.
A look at the top three markets: 6% of households in NYC were tuned to the show on a live basis, whereas Los Angeles was more likely to time-shift and things generally declined after Dolly Parton in Dallas, but all markets held steady without huge in-show deflection.
TV Advertising
Live linear delivered 1.32 billion TV impressions on 94 airings, close to last year’s 1.35 billion TV device impressions on 104 ad airings, according to real-time TV ad measurement company iSpot. CBS dedicated 10 minutes to promotion, with Disney taking up five minutes, Apple purchasing 4.5, and Google phones promoting Pixel for four minutes. Target and Uber, which were top advertisers last year did not participate this year. Pepsi, which wasn’t invested last year, continued its Super Bowl investment with CBS as a top 10 advertiser this year. The top four advertisers accounted for 22% of spending, while CBS properties accounted for 20% of impressions.
Social Video Insights
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Of course these days the action isn’t just on TV screens — it’s all over social media. And with a show like the Grammys, social video in particular. According to social video analytics company Tubular Labs, there were over 6,800 videos uploaded around the globe with a Grammys tag. Topping the most-watched list with 5.2 million views is a clip (from creator Funhouse) of Alicia Keys’ dual piano performance during the show.
In second place, perhaps controversially, was the L.A. Times' video of Joy Villa, who claimed she was dressed as Donald Trump's wall between the U.S. and Mexico — complete with "Make America Great Again" purse. That video had 3.6 million views, while Keys's opening with Michelle Obama and Lady Gaga had 3.4 million views while striking a decidedly different tone. Drake's surprise award acceptance was close behind as well, at around 3.4 million views of its own.
