From controversial series finales to an overtime Super Bowl thriller, 2024 was an eventful year for television. As audiences relished in their favorite shows, brands who made the right investments gained staggering rewards.
Using outcome-driven data to analyze over 2,300 broadcasts, EDO ranked the top TV programs of 2024, based on which shows had the highest chance of inspiring consumers to engage with brands. The results reveal key trends that advertisers should pay close attention to when planning their 2025 media buys. Read ahead for the programs that made the greatest impact for advertisers in 2024.
Sports fans brought their A-game for more than just their favorite teams last year. Live sports nearly swept the top primetime programs of 2024 for ad engagement, with 16 game and championship broadcasts ranking in the top 20. The NFL earned five of those spots, with Super Bowl LVIII ranking as the second best primetime program for ad engagement. Compared to the broadcast and cable primetime average, ads during the Big Game were 224% more likely to drive engagement.
Basketball programming proved to be a bank shot for advertisers as well, with the NBA All-Star Game and All-Star Saturday Night earning the third and fourth spots on the list. Placements during the All-Star Game were 184% more likely to drive fans to engage with brands, while ads that ran during All-Star Saturday were 163% better at motivating fans to action than the broadcast and cable primetime average.
Advertisers looking for another slam dunk in 2025 might also want to consider placements during golf events. The PGA Tour earned ninth place, with ad placements 112% more likely to make fans want to engage with brands. Other golf events in the top 20 included the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open Golf Championship, the 2024 President Cup, and the 2024 Senior PGA Championship.
It’s clear that no matter which sporting events make the most sense for your brand, live sports placements are a winning bet.
Yellowstone, the tenth most engaging primetime program of 2023 and one of the best rated shows in 2024, struck gold for advertisers in its fifth and final season. The Western drama rose in the ranks not once, but twice this past year, placing first for its Paramount Network broadcast, and seventh for its airings on CMT. Paramount Network Yellowstone viewers were 256% more likely to engage with brands, and CMT Yellowstone audiences were 116% more engaged compared to the average broadcast and cable primetime average.
While the Paramount Network announced that Yellowstone won’t return for another season, reports have emerged with plans for a spinoff series. Advertisers would be wise to stay on the lookout for Yellowstone related news if they don’t want to lose the show’s heavily engaged following. Other Yellowstone spinoffs have already proven effective for brand engagement, as prequel Yellowstone: 1923 made it into the top 200 primetime programs (and top 100 when excluding live sports).
After live sports, documentary shows proved to be one of the most effective program categories for brands seeking engaged audiences in 2024. Lifetime’s Where is Wendy Williams? led the way as 16th best primetime program for brand engagement, with airings during this show twice as likely to drive consumer action.
Nine other documentary shows made it to the top 100, such as A&E’s James Brown: Say It Loud, Animal Planet’s Fly Wild Alaska, and Investigation Discovery’s Gypsy’s Revenge. When excluding live sports, documentary shows make up seven of the top 20 primetime programs, with shows like Civil War Conspiracies on the American Heroes Channel driving engagement rates 78% higher than the broadcast and cable primetime average. As the demand for documentaries continues to climb in the US, television advertisers following this trend are likely to see a strong return on investment.
The lessons of 2024 are essential for advertisers aiming for a successful 2025. As live sports continue a tradition of driving ad performance, brands that keep their finger on the pulse of emerging categories like documentaries will fare well in the near future.
Now that you know which programs drove the best results for advertisers, want to know which ads were most effective at driving engagement? Check out our 2024 year-in-review for the top ads of 2024.