In this episode of About That, Carl Mayer talks to Danny Senor, Senior Research Analyst at AMS, about insights from his recently conducted AMS survey on sports viewership.
About Danny Senor:
Danny Senor is a Senior Research Analyst for Strategy, Planning & Insights, at AMS, where he has worked across a wide range of clients with expertise in television. Throughout his career, Danny has developed an expertise on all things related to media measurement. It doesn’t hurt that he’s an emphatic sports nerd who loves to investigate sports from every angle.
Transcript:
Carl Mayer: Welcome to About That. I’m your host Carl Mayer and joining me today Danny Senor, Senior Research Analyst at AMS. Welcome to About That.
Danny Senor: Thank you for having me.
CM: You recently conducted AMS’s survey of sports viewership. One of the big things happening now is that streaming platforms are investing heavily in sports rights. What you find out there?
DS: Well, one thing we found interesting was that 40% of sports viewers have subscribed to linear and a streaming service to watch sports. What’s interesting about that is when you then ask them what they would want, that number goes from 40% to 15%. So I don’t think what’s happening right now with sports is really benefiting fans. It’s leading to this market where sports are all over the place. You can’t just watch MLB on one dedicated channel. You have to go to multiple outlets for it and that’s common through most sports right now. And fans are left a little bit confused and kind of scattered.
CM: Another finding that makes sort of intuitive sense, but it was great to have data to quantify it, is that not all sports are popular in all parts of the country. There’s real geographic difference there. What did you find and how can media planners use that information?
DS: One thing we found was, I mean, you touched on it already, was that some sports show a real geographic base bias. I think knowing that can really help a media planner just to use sports more efficiently. It’s very important to have sports in the media plan, but it’s also one of the most expensive things to have in the media plan. So knowing which sports play insert in DMAs is just very important.
I would think one great example is talking about college football. College football in the southeast is one of the highest-indexing sports compared to national average. It’s not hard to figure out why. Think about the dominance of the SEC. You have Alabama, you have Georgia. It’s just that’s where all the big schools are. On the flip side, in the Northeast you have a lack of powerhouses. Maybe Penn State, but Penn State’s also more towards the Midwest.
So knowing that college football plays in one part of the country versus another is really useful. Because maybe if you’re advertising in Boston, you don’t use college football, you use the NHL instead, because that’s actually the highest indexing sport in that region. If you’re in Atlanta, you flip that switch and use college football.
CM: Turning a little bit away from video. Sports radio, terrestrial sports radio, still very popular. Why is that?
DS: I think it’s still really popular because it’s still the only true dedicated source for fans to get local sports talk. There is no age bias when it comes to terrestrial radio. That was one of the key things we found too.
Whether you’re 18 to 34, 25 to 54, 55+ you name the age range, you name anything. Terrestrial radio still plays with everyone. It’s because that’s the only spot where you can get local dedicated sports talk.
CM: Changing gears, but also not really at all because it’s still sports. You were recently published in Sports Business Journal with a great article about the WNBA and what we can look forward to for their future in media. I still want people to read it. I don’t want you to give everything away, but what are some key takeaways?
DS: Well, I’ll just give one key takeaway instead of multiple. It’s not that long of an article (Carl and Danny laugh).
But I think it’s really a rosy outlook for the WNBA. The growth in the past two years has been huge. Even if you remove Caitlin Clark, there’s still huge growth. Numbers with Caitlin Clark rival the MLB and surpass the NHL, but numbers without Caitlin Clark actually surpass the NHL too right now.
I think it’s a really rosy outlook for the WNBA because this growth is happening right before their new media deal kicks in in 2026. That media deal is going to lead to a partnership with Walt Disney Peacock, Well, NBC Universal, which includes Peacock and Amazon Prime.
So just more exposure for the league and it will lead to more viewership. I think right now, we’re at the league’s floor for viewership.
CM: Check out the AMS study. Read Danny’s article. Danny Senor, Thank you for being here today.
