‘Yellowstone’ Season 3 Premiere: Viewership, Advertising & Social Video Insights
The third season of Paramount Network’s hit show Yellowstone, starring Kevin Costner, debuted on Sunday, June 21. It’s one of the more anticipated summer cable dramas: The Hollywood Reporter named it as a summer TV ratings winner for both 2018 and 2019.
We’re only one episode in, so it’s too soon to see if viewers will love this season as much as the last, but meanwhile, a quick look at general advertising, viewership and social video trends around the show as it gets rolling this summer:
Viewership Insights
According to Inscape.tv, the TV data company with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 15 million smart TVs, during the weekend of June 19-21, Yellowstone was the No. 1 binge-watched timeshifted show (based on minutes binged as a percent of all binged shows that Inscape measured). Paramount Network aired previous episodes during the day — a good way to engage viewers, let people catch up and get excited for the premiere.
The minute-by-minute graph of viewership during the premiere shows that tune-in steadily climbed, peaking at the very end.
Looking at viewer location during the premiere, in general, local area markets in the Midwest (especially Montana) tuned in more heavily than the coasts:
When it comes to other shows that Yellowstone fans are likely to watch, SEAL Team tops the list, followed by Blue Bloods, Deadliest Catch, Madam Secretary and Gold Rush.
Advertising Insights
There were 59.8 million TV ad impressions served during the third season premiere of Yellowstone, representing a 169.38% increase from the season two premiere, per iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Brands that had the highest impression-counts included Taco Bell (5.3 million impressions), Edelman Financial (5.1 million), Tide (5 million), M&M’s (4.6 million) and Sonic Drive-In (4.4 million). Looking at specific spots, here are three that stood out in terms of impressions and viewer attention:
Fudge Brownie M&M's TV Spot: 'Genius'
- 4.6 million TV ad impressions
- iSpot Attention Score* of 93.92
- 9% less likely to be interrupted than average
Little Caesars Pizza Stuffed Crazy Bread TV Spot: 'Daredevil'
- 4.4 million TV ad impressions
- iSpot Attention Score of 97.38
- 61% less likely to be interrupted
Pendleton TV Spot: 'True Western Tradition'
- 3.6 million TV ad impressions
- iSpot Attention Score of 94.68
- 20% less likely to be interrupted
Facebook Video Strategy
We also looked at videos that Paramount Network has posted on Facebook in the last 90 days. According to digital video measurement company Tubular Labs, the network’s second most-watched one, with 202K views, was a trailer for the third season of Yellowstone, posted on April 23. In addition, four of Paramount’s top ten Facebook videos by views were Yellowstone-related.
Paramount has also launched Welcome to the Yellowstone, a 10-episode digital series featuring Jefferson White, one of the show’s actors. In it, White does a deep dive into each episode of the first season of Yellowstone, with behind-the-scenes glimpses, interviews with special guest stars and fan Q&A. The teaser for Welcome to the Yellowstone has generated 11.7K Facebook video views since it was posted on May 22, and the first episode, uploaded May 26, has generated 12K views per Tubular.
*The iSpot Attention Score measures the propensity of consumers to interrupt an ad play on TV. The higher the score, the more complete views. Actions that interrupt an ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV.