Narrative-focused ads may provide better results for brands advertising during the Super Bowl, yet in recent years, that emphasis has declined in favor of a focus on celebrities and humor – according to recent research from iSpot.

iSpot’s all-industry Creative Assessment database reveals only 23% of all ads last year (norm) connected through humor – and the reason is there is inherent risk in trying to be funny. But during the Super Bowl, "funny" ads have become the norm at this point – especially this past year, when 72% of Big Game ads scored for humor.

Somehow the football, which already utterly dominates TV viewing, managed to grow its ad impressions year-over-year, according to iSpot’s recent 2023 TV Transparency Report. The NFL delivered 7.9% more TV ad impressions year-over-year, while more national TV college football games led to an impressive 20.3% impressions jump vs. 2022.

2023 saw an increase in TV ads and ad minutes, according to iSpot’s recently released TV Transparency Report, which helped several networks maintain their ranking position for share of TV ad impressions. Leading the list was CBS, which had a 7.24% impressions share of voice (SOV) for the year, followed by ABC (6.53%) and NBC (5.52%)

Data from Tubular Labs shows the WWE was the No. 2 U.S. sports media & entertainment creator in Dec. 2023, with over 117 million unique viewers across YouTube and Facebook.