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.
