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).
