TV Sponsorship Report 2023
This report marks our second review of top TV sponsorships in Ireland; our first review covered 2021, and we now turn our focus to 2023. Two years on, it remains evident that television continues to be the premier medium for achieving mass reach among both spot advertisers and sponsors.
As a nation, our love affair with TV continues, the average adult watches 2 hours and 32 mins of TV a day, however this is down from 2 hours and 47 mins in 2021 as video consumption continues to diversify.
The top Irish TV programmes in 2023 were recently released by TAM Ireland, and we have explored how these compare to the Top TV Sponsorships in 2023. Furthermore, research released by TAM Ireland in 2023, shows that better performing content, drives better attention to ads within it. TV sponsorship is then at a significant advantage due to its placement, topping and tailing the chosen content.
In a year that had the men’s Irish rugby team favourites for the Rugby World Cup, our first appearance at the Women’s World Cup in football and epic All Ireland Finals, it is no great surprise to see sport dominating the top TV programmes once again. While sponsors of sport undoubtedly reaped the rewards, can the same be said for sponsors of sports broadcast content?
One off events such as the Late Late Toy Show or Ireland v New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup may grab the nation's attention, but consistency also pays dividends in broadcast sponsorship, and therefore Soaps remain high performing.
The number one TV programme, The Late Late Toy Show continues to unite the country like no other. You need to go back to 2002 for the last time it wasn’t number one. PTSB will be delighted their new flagship TV sponsorship continues to lead the viewing table in their first year as sponsor.
For context, it is worth considering the value PTSB receive as a sponsor. They are the first and last commercial message in every ad break. Therefore, the brand is seen by the audience in the most valuable slot, topping and tailing each commercial break, with the highest audience attention.
While there are many benefits to TV sponsorship, a key one is allowing a brand to be always on throughout the year, sometimes at a fraction of the cost if they were to buy the equivalent airtime as standard spot advertising.
This is especially evident in the highest reaching Irish TV sponsorship, that is Fáilte Ireland’s sponsorship of RTÉ Weather. Once again it tops the table for the best performing TV sponsorship. In terms of Ireland’s obsessions, the weather, alongside sport ranks high and this influences people’s TV consumption.
Fáilte Ireland cleverly capitalise on this by associating stunning footage of the Irish landscape with RTÉ’s Weather bulletin. These visuals are broadcast into Irish homes 365 days of the year, reaching more people than any other programme. It also provides Fáilte Ireland with unparalleled proximity to RTÉ News which is not sponsorable. This is invaluable attention as the Weather retains a large portion of the News audience.
2023 was an incredible year from a sporting perspective. Live sport dominates the top programmes. No surprise then, it also features highly in the top TV sponsorship. The sponsors of the Rugby World Cup, Six Nations and GAA coverage all feature along with the sponsors of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Euro Qualifiers also.
In certain scenarios the official event partners of these tournaments also get the stings on the broadcast as part of their package. This includes GAA and UEFA Champions League coverage.
The remaining broadcast deals allow the TV stations to sell the broadcast sponsorships to the market, after first offering them to official sponsors and domestic partners for first refusal.
It is also clear the Irish TV landscape is awash with high-quality home-produced content such as Kin and Room to Improve. However, due to their shorter season, they do not appear in the top 20 TV sponsorships., whereas longer run home produced series series such a Reeling in the years and Dancing with the Stars do feature.
