Shark Week’s Early Run: Bad News for Ads?
Despite airing earlier than usual in late June to early July 2016, Discovery Channel's Shark Week achieved one of its most successful advertising years ever, with a 23% increase in advertisers (320 brands) and a 35% rise in TV ad spots, driven by a pre-event digital campaign and dominated by retail, media, financial services, and tech advertisers, with AT&T and Comcast as top advertisers.
It was a dark and stormy night in 1988 when the first Shark Week show premiered: Caged in Fear. Since then, Shark Week has become a major hit with audiences and advertisers alike. According to Nielsen, Shark Week has received up to 2.5 million same-day viewers with a 1.46 rating in primetime.
This year, however, Shark Week altered its formula and aired earlier than usual – from June 26 through July 3rd. Other networks wondered if proximity to the July 4th holiday and the upcoming summer Olympics would impact ad sales.
Not at all: MediaRadar’s advertising data showed that Discovery Channel had one of the most successful Shark Week years ever. The number of advertisers in Shark Week programming was up 23% from 2015, for a total of 320 brands. The number of TV spots that ran also increased by 35%.
Discovery attracted viewers for its advertisers with a campaign of online display, native ads, and online video starting a week before the sharks arrived.
Top advertiser categories were:
- Retail (46 brands placing ads)
- Media & entertainment (40 brands)
- Financial services (26 brands)
- Professional services
- Home furnishings
- Food
- Pharmaceutical
- Tech
AT&T ran the most ads (31 spots). Comcast came in a close second (26 spots), promoting its movie ticket website Fandango and three films it distributes: The Secret Life of Pets, The Purge: Election Year, and Jason Bourne.
Shark Week Native Ad on Imgur
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