TV Dramas Leading Genre for Prime Time Viewing, Ad Dollars

Of the $72 billion spent on TV advertising in the US in 2011, almost one-fifth ($14 billion) was spent on 5 traditional prime time genres – drama, news, reality, sitcom, and sports – says Nielsen [pdf] in an April 2012 report. And among those genres, dramas appear to be the most popular with both viewers and advertisers, garnering 41% of prime time viewership and 35% of ad spend. Sports was the next-most popular genre, at 22% of viewership and 29% of ad spend, followed by reality shows (16% and 17%, respectively). (more…)