With Olympics Sold Out, App Science Offers Alternatives for Reaching Fans to Hungry Marketers

NBCUniversal says it has already sold out its inventory of commercials during next month’s Winter Olympics. These audiences are valuable to advertisers, according to a study by App Science, but what’s an advertiser to do?

App Science didn’t work with NBCU on its analysis and offers suggestions about other ways to reach Olympic viewers via ad-supported streaming platforms, out of home locations and digital environments.

For example, App Science found that Olympic fans are two times more likely to visit casual dining and quick-service restaurant locations. It suggests that brands can use time-sensitive dining, pickup and delivery messaging aligned with live Olympic moments.

Olympic viewers also over index for travel-related subjects, including airports and national parks, and generally show an interest in experiences. Travel, hospitality and lifestyle brands can extend Olympic messaging beyond the living room to reach fans on the move with out-of-home advertising.

Fans of the Olympics are 4.8 times more likely to watch westerns and more than four times likely to engage with fashion and beauty content. Advertisers can expand reach by activating in cross-genre CTV environments competitors might overlook, App Science said.

 The report said that a growing number of Olympic viewers are cord cutters. They can be reached with Olympic-driven campaigns via ad-supported streamers like The Roku Channel, Plex and Pluto TV.

“Olympic fans aren’t just tuning in for the competition; they’re engaging across screens, locations, and lifestyles,” said Helen Lum, executive VP at App Science. “This audience is mobile, culturally curious, and highly responsive to brand messaging, giving advertisers a powerful opportunity to connect through storytelling that extends beyond the broadcast.”

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NBCUniversal said NBC and Peacock said they will be presenting programming in 4K HDR on Super Bowl Sunday and throughout the Winter Olympic Games. 

“When you’re about to present the biggest month in U.S. sports media history, you want to make sure you’re giving fans the best experience possible – so that’s exactly what we have planned on NBC and Peacock for Super Bowl LX, the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, and NBA All-Star Weekend,” said Rick Cordella, president, NBC Sports.

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Football and holiday programming gave The Walt Disney Co. a boost in December, according to Nielsen’s monthly report on the top media distributors.

Disney had 4% increase in viewing, fueled by a 30% increase at ESPN, where Monday Night Football, the College Football Playoffs and College Gameday all scored big numbers. At the same time, Disney’s Freeform cable network doubled its November viewing with films like Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty The Snowman.

Disney had a 10.7% share of viewing in the month, trailing YouTube, the streaming leader with a 12.7% share.

Also generating increased viewing during the month were Warner Bros. Discovery, Hallmark, Netflix and Amazon Prime. 

WBD was boosted by sports on TBS and TNT, as well as a 10% gain at HBO, driving by original series It: Welcome To Derry.

Holiday movies gave a boost to The Hallmark Channel, which had the top five movies on cable during the month. 

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Music video service Vevo said it launched Attention Guaranteed, a new offering that promises a maximum attention score for a brand’s campaign across all screens.

Attention Guaranteed is part of Vevo’s Vevo Evolve collection of ad products, and is based on measurement provided by Adelaide.

According to Adelaide, Vevo’s YouTube CTV inventory delivers attention scores 28% higher than benchmarks.

“As signal loss accelerates and traditional targeting becomes more constrained, advertisers are increasingly focused on content quality and premium media environments – not just the scale of impressions,” said Laura Vanison, VP, research & measurement at Vevo. “The future of attention measurement goes beyond viewability to outcomes, giving advertisers greater confidence that their spend is driving meaningful attention, and therefore, action.” 

Adelaide’s AU metric predicts an ad placement’s likelihood to capture attention and drive business outcomes. Grounded in eye-tracking research and informed by placement-level signals and full-funnel outcome data, AU offers a precise 0–100 score enabling consistent evaluation of media quality across channels.  

“Attention is a proven indicator of advertising performance across the funnel,” said Mark Guldimann, CEO of Adelaide. “By measuring it as a continuous variable and tying it directly to business outcomes, we’re giving marketers an actionable signal to compare quality across channels, optimize creative and formats, and make smarter, more confident investment decisions.” 

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Nielsen said it made a deal with Hubbard Broadcasting to continue to provide measurement and marketing intelligence to Hubbard’s TV stations in Albany, N.Y., and the Albuquerque-Santa Fe, N.M. markets.

The new deal covers Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings, Ad Intel, Scarborough and NLTV services.

“We serve the entire state of New Mexico, so Nielsen’s statewide measurement is important to us.  We’re always looking for ways to see the complete picture – in our communities big and small,” said Michelle Donaldson, VP and general manager of KOB-TV. 

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Brian Bell was named senior VP, head of sales, at JamLoop, a CTV technology platform. Bell most recently had been GM, North America, for LoopMe, and was with Viant before that.