Today’s television viewers have a smorgasbord of options. The proliferation of streaming services has greatly expanded the choices people have. That’s changed some things for advertisers, but we still congregate around singular events. Nearly 106 million watched the final episode of M*A*S*H in February of 1983, while 124 million tuned into this year’s Super Bowl. Check out the top annual events for advertisers.
FINANCIAL FINALES
The final episode of a popular series is always a go to for advertisers. HBO’s Game of Thrones ended in 2019 with more than 19 million viewers and $20 million in ad revenue. The last episode generated more than 8 million social media interactions.
ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
Not quite an annual thing but people find British royalty compelling. The televised celebration of William and Kate’s 10th Anniversary drew 15 million viewers in 2021. Brands spent an estimated $8 million on sponsorships and spots. The hashtag #RoyalAnniversary trended on Twitter with more than 1.2 million mentions. In 1981 when Diana married Charles, an estimated 1 billion watched and listened on television and radio.
KING OF THE AWARDS
Award shows have been fading in popularity but they typically get a boost when there are box office and critical successes to celebrate. The record viewership for the Academy awards was in 1998 when 55 million watched Titanic take home best picture.
SUPER SIZED
This past February’s game was the most watched Super Bowl in history. About 123.4 million people tuned in. They weren’t all glued to CBS, the numbers included Paramount+, Univision and Nickelodeon, which featured commentary from SpongeBob SquarePants and friends. Nielsen has also expanded access to “out-of-home” viewership which includes audiences in all 50 states, at airports, hotels, bars, etc. Aside from the commercials and halftime show the relationship between the Chief’s Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift was a major boost to viewership. And there was a pretty good game, too. Ads cost $7 million for 30 seconds.