Cancelled sports,
not cancelled viewers

The evolution of COVID-19 has brought upon unprecedented changes to our lives and businesses across the globe. As we collectively navigate the current unknown, Ampersand’s priority is to support our clients and partners through actionable data and insights.

There have been two primary observable changes in TV consumption since social distancing measures began:

Initial increase in TV Viewership

Beginning the week of March 9th, as social distancing measures and work from home policies increased across the US, there was a proportionate increase in TV viewing levels as measured by households using TV (HUT). That increase continued over the weekend (March 13th-15th), and by Sunday, March 15th, viewing levels nearly matched this year’s Super Bowl viewing.

Cancellation of all major live sporting events

We intuitively recognize that viewers of March Madness, the NBA, the NHL, MLB, MLS and NASCAR also watch other networks and programming. With many clients already having placed budget against these events, there was an immediate need for insights into alternative ways to reach these audiences.

As a result of these changing needs, we analyzed each event to provide insights into other networks where the same audiences can be found. Before looking at the data, an initial assumption might be that the top alternative networks for March Madness audiences would be the same for NBA audiences, for example. This is not the case though, and there are important network difference between each event. Through current Nielsen national data, we’ve pin-pointed the top networks where brands can find their would-be sports audiences, enabling smarter decision-making on where to re-direct these campaigns.

Methodology

From Nielsen L+3 TV/Linear with VOD playback; 6 minutes viewing needed to qualify for viewership among the demo.

Primary duplication is the percent of the demo viewers of the sport who also watched a given network.

 

Jump to each sporting event

March Madness    NBA Playoffs    MLB    MLS    NASCAR    NHL Playoffs

Find A25-54 March Madness viewers on these networks

Cable network	Primary duplication %
TBSC	59.18
TNT	52.80
FX	30.36
AMC	29.20
USA	28.14
TRU	27.33
HGTV	25.58
HIST	24.20
AEN	23.49
CMDY	22.31
FOOD	22.30
PARA	21.90
SYFY	21.54
FREE	21.44
DISC	21.17
BRVO	20.20
E!	19.90
TLC	19.70
MTV	17.02
LIF	16.47

 

Find A25-54 NBA playoff viewers on these networks

Cable network	Primary duplication %
TBSC	37.17
FX	36.41
USA	35.16
AMC	30.56
AEN	28.34
PARA	28.22
HGTV	27.26
FREE	27.18
E!	26.61
SYFY	26.46
CMDY	25.39
FOOD	24.49
DISC	23.56
VH1	23.40
HIST	22.35
MTV	22.30
LIF	22.08
NAT GEO	21.16
BRVO	21.06

 

Find A25-54 MLB viewers on these networks

Cable network	Primary duplication %
TNT	69.93
TBSC	47.44
USA	45.42
FX	45.23
AMC	41.86
PARA	39.12
AEN	38.36
FREE	36.18
HGTV	35.99
CMDY	35.35
SYFY	33.97
E!	33.87
FOOD	33.19
HIST	31.71
DISC	31.64
NAT GEO	29.68
MTV	26.64
LIF	26.50
TLC	26.06
FXX	25.14

 

 

Find A25-54 Major League Soccer viewers on these networks

Cable network	Primary duplication %
TNT	58.11
USA	38.82
FX	38.34
TBSC	36.38
AMC	32.73
PARA	31.67
AEN	27.78
CMDY	26.80
FREE	26.74
SYFY	26.45
E!	25.80
HGTV	24.96
FOXD	24.39
DISC	24.17
FOOD	24.09
NAT GEO	23.80
MTV	23.26
LIF	22.57
HIST	22.28
VH1	21.88

 

Find A25-54 NASCAR viewers on these networks

Cable network	Primary duplication %
TNT	66.05
USA	55.68
TBSC	51.68
FX	50.83
AMC	49.67
HIST	49.29
DISC	49.15
AEN	49.10
PARA	46.44
NAT GEO	44.54
SYFY	41.36
FREE	40.17
HGTV	37.13
FOOD	36.78
CMDY	36.50
E!	33.76
CMT	32.95
MTV	31.70
LIF	31.01
FXX	30.39

 

Find A25-54 NHL Playoff viewers on these networks

Cable network	Primary duplication %
TNT	56.64
TBSC	41.01
USA	39.78
FX	37.54
AMC	32.71
HGTV	31.67
AEN	31.56
PARA	29.66
CMDY	29.53
E!	29.02
FOOD	28.80
HIST	28.44
DISC	28.05
FREE	28.00
SYFY	26.59
NAT GEO	25.52
CNBC	22.53
MTV	22.44
TLC	22.10
BRVO	21.68

 

Stay tuned for additional supporting resources on navigating these ongoing changes, and continue to stay healthy, now more than ever.

For additional support, please contact your Ampersand representative.

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