Quick TV Insights from July 2020

We worked with Inscape.tv, the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 15 million smart TVs, and iSpot.tv, the always-on measurement and attribution platform, to highlight a few key insights around TV viewership and advertising for July. 

News, News and More News

Amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and with the 2020 election heating up, it’s not surprising to see news continue to be one of the biggest drivers of live, linear viewership. Per Inscape: 

• Looking at networks, of all minutes watched in July by smart TVs that Inscape measured, 6.09% of the time was spent on Fox News, making it No. 1 for network percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching). 
• Looking at shows, of all the minutes watched in July, 0.72% of the time was spent on America’s Newsroom, making it No. 6 for show percent share duration.
• Looking at network reach, Fox News reached 22.8% of TVs in July, CNN reached 19.70% and MSNBC reached 13.40%, making these networks fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, in the reach ranking (the big four broadcasters were ahead).   

Hello, Live Sports!

July brought the long-awaited return of live sports for two of the biggest players, the MLB and NBA, and fans were thrilled. Per Inscape: 

• The biggest day for live sports viewing in July was Saturday, July 25th, with sports (MLB, PGA, UFC and WNBA) capturing 8.9% of all live viewing. The biggest duration share that day went to MLB, 3.36%. 
• NBA basketball games captured a 7.41% share of active TVs during July and a 0.14% percent share duration of viewing. 
• TNT was the most popular channel for NBA games, capturing a 5.71% share of active TVs. 

Travel TV Advertising Is Coming Back  

After a challenging spring due to COVID-19, the travel industry has been rebooting its TV  marketing this summer, with month-over-month increases in the number of spots, airings, TV ad impressions and estimated value of ad spend in July compared to June. iSpot tracks six discrete travel marketer categories: Airlines, Cities & Destinations, Cruise Lines, Hotels & Motels, Resorts & Theme Parks and Travel Websites. Per iSpot: 

• There was an 88.29% month-over-month increase in TV ad impressions, up to 5.2 billion in July vs. June’s 2.8 billion.
• The Hotels & Motels category had the most-seen travel industry ads (1.9 billion impressions), with Choice Hotels as the main driver (1.7 billion impressions). 
• Airlines are taking flight, with a 1,487.77% month-over-month increase in TV ad impressions (563.7 million) led by Southwest (478.8 million).

Want more insights from July? Broadcasting & Cable has the complete TV show and network rankings for the month, and Skift has a full travel report based on iSpot’s data.