With the new fall TV season about to kickoff, let’s take a look back at the summer TV season that just ended and see what lessons we can take away for the rest of the year. Many traditionally think of the summer TV season as a slow period, with highly watched primetime shows done for the season and viewers out of the house and away from their TVs.
But when EDO took a look at this summer’s TV season, we found that, contrary to popular belief, many advertisers saw great success driving even higher Search Engagement over the summer than during the last fall season. EDO’s data reveals that the unique focus on competition and game shows over the summer proves to be a strong environment for advertisers to drive Search Engagement.
Highest Impact National Broadcast Primetime Summer Shows
Ranked by Search Engagement Rate (SER) Index
EDO took a look at which summer shows on national primetime broadcast TV were most effective at generating online search for their advertisers. And beyond the proposal, it turns out bachelors and bachelorettes are good for advertising “engagement” too!
ABC had a strong showing, taking the top three spots with The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise, and Celebrity Family Feud. Viewers exposed to ads during these shows were 25%, 22%, and 21% respectively more likely to engage online with the brand being advertised in the minutes after the ad airing than viewers exposed to these ads during the average summer show.
It would take an advertiser 2.45 ad units on a standard summer TV show to generate the same impact as one ad during The Bachelorette.
Four of the top five and 8 of the top 10 shows this summer were competition and game shows, demonstrating the power of these genres for driving consumer Search Engagement.
The final season of Jane the Virgin was the only drama to make the top five shows in driving online Search Engagement, despite having a significantly lower number of impressions than the other four. This is likely thanks to committed viewers of the series who were highly engaged with the final episodes.
Looking at networks, ABC and the CW performed well, taking many top 20 spots for shows across multiple genres.
Which Brands Rode the Summer Wave:
Brands with Better Search Engagement during Summer 2019 National Broadcast Primetime TV versus Fall 2018 National Broadcast Primetime TV
EDO looked at Search Engagement for Summer 2019 TV ads versus Fall 2018 to compare the “slow summer” season to the “hot premiere” season. Turns out – summer isn’t so slow after all!
Auto brands used summer advertising to great effect, with Volkswagen, Chevrolet, and Kia taking the top three spots for the greatest difference between Summer 2019 and Fall 2018 Search Engagement.
Viewers who saw ads for these brands during national broadcast primetime TV this summer were 5x, 3x, and 2x respectively more likely to engage online with the brand directly following the ad airing than viewers who saw a similar ad for these brands airing during national broadcast primetime TV last fall. This is likely a result of strong Summer Sales Event campaigns.
Quick Serve & Fast Casual Restaurant brands were heavy summer advertisers, with companies like Dunkin’, KFC, Taco Bell, and Olive Garden airing significantly more ads this summer than last fall.
Viewers were feeling the heat this summer, sending both Mountain Dew and Coca Cola into the top 10.
What to Look for this fall:
What can we takeaway from this summer as the new fall season kicks off?
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Expect competition and game shows to continue to be strong platforms for driving Search Engagement.
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Advertisers, such as auto brands, who create seasonal events like Summer Sales can be expected to do the same this year end with Black Friday and Holiday Sales Events.