Who Wants to See ‘Power Rangers’? Its TV Ad Campaign May Offer a Few Clues

The Power Rangers are back in the latest reboot directed by Dean Israelite. And in anticipation of its March 24 release, Lionsgate is hitting the airwaves hard to promote the new film version of the fan-favorite franchise.Commercials for Power Rangers led spending for the movie industry with an estimated $5.98 million on 750 national ad airings across 38 networks from March 5-12, according to iSpot.tv data cited by Variety in its weekly Movie Commercial Tracker. To maximize awareness, the studio appears to be targeting two key demographics: kids/teens (such as those who watch shows on Nickelodeon) and an older crowd — perhaps the parents of said kids — who grew up on the Power Rangers TV show and movies of the ’90s. You can see the strategy is how Lionsgate has prioritized spend across key programming — specifically during The Big Bang Theory, The Walking Dead, Nickelodeon’s 2017 Kid’s Choice Awards, NBA Basketball and The Voice.  Here’s a look at movie studios that have been spending big on those shows/programming during the same time period: If basketball fans remain a target audience for Power Rangers (Lionsgate has already spent an estimated $200,000-plus during NBA Basketball games over the seven days measured), the NCAA March Madness tournament may provide the perfect platform for a final push before the movie premieres at the end of this month. Eleanor Semeraro is an analyst for iSpot.tv and a regular contributor to TVrev.