SUPER BOWL SHOPPING

Numerator, a data and tech company serving the market research space surveyed over 1,800 consumers on their plans for watching the Super Bowl. “Three-quarters of respondents plan to watch the game, but 55% will do so at home alone or with members of their household, up five points from previous years.” Only two percent plan to visit a bar or restaurant, while  39% look forward to gathering with others, and 38% are “enthused about eating and drinking. Speaking of which, “Sixty-nine percent of Super Bowl watchers said they will buy alcoholic beverages, including 45% planning to purchase beer (52% among avid sports fans), 23% expecting to buy wine and 20% looking to purchase spirits.”  (Supermarket News: 2/2/22)

WINTER OLYMPICS VIEWERSHIP

While ratings are down across the first few days of the 2022 Winter Olympics, other metrics are looking up including a “98% completion rate for linear TV” for Friday’s opening ceremonies (vs. an average completion rate “closer to 50%, according to iSpot.tv.”) Further, the “ad interruption rate” is 13% lower across all TV programming vs. average broadcast and cable. Other insights offered by NBCU research include a 14% lighter ad load during primetime, a 39% increase in the likelihood to search for items featured during the opening ceremonies, and increases for brand recall (53%) and message memorability (70%). (MediaPost: 2.7/22)

These findings are consistent with the recent Broadbeam Streaming Sports Study from Broadbeam Media (Active’s Data and Analytics arm) which surveyed sports viewers of the Olympics, NFL, NBA, and NHL.  The report forecast live viewership to be down, but “impressive numbers around attention paid to Olympic coverage”. Another expectation: time-delayed or highlight viewership will continue in Beijing as popular sports like skiing and snowboarding “lend themselves to highlight reels” similar to Summer Olympics sports like gymnastics, swimming/diving, and track & field. Conversely, Americans tend to prefer watching sports like Basketball, Baseball live. (Sports Business Journal: 2/2/22)

CROSS-PLATFORM REACH

A new report by connected TV measurement firm, Samba TV, found that “airing ads multiple times to reach desired audiences may be costing brands billions of dollars, and largely ineffective”. The study looked at ACR data from more than 46 million homes, concluding that “97% of all linear TV ad impressions delivered in the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2021 reached the same 55% of audiences—a high-frequency subset that was shown to be less diverse, older and lower-income than the national average.” These findings were consistent with a December 2021 study from TVSquared which compared streaming audiences on Tubi to linear and other AVOD services. Nielsen’s shift to measuring individual ads (rather than commercial averages) and its cross-platform Nielsen One offering (planned for 2024) are steps in the right direction. (AdAge, requires subscription: 2/3/22)

CINCINNATI CHILI

In honor of the Bengal’s first Super Bowl appearance since the 1988 season, TV chefs and fans looking to serve a dish that’s both representative of Cincinnati as well as unique can turn to Cincinnatti Chili; a Mediterranean-style chili (special seasoning includes cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and chocolate) blanketed in cheddar cheese and used to top spaghetti or hot dogs. Check out the recipe prepared by 4WWL-TV’s Chef Kevin. (WWLTV: 2/8/22)