Television viewers in the U.S. have more choices than ever, both in terms of how and where they tune in and in what they watch. In the first of a three-part insight series, Nielsen looked at viewership and advertising across five traditional primetime genres and found that dramas account for the largest share of viewership, timeshifting and ad spend, while reality programs claimed the largest share of product placements. The Advertising & Audiences Report also found that, when watching at home, 43 percent of timeshifted primetime broadcast programming is played back the same day it was recorded and 88 percent is played back within three days.

Other primetime TV findings include:

• During primetime, the share of viewership devoted to sitcoms has risen steadily over the past three years.

• $72 billion was spent on TV advertising in the U.S. in 2011, with $14 billion allocated during these five traditional primetime genres..

• More than half of all broadcast TV product placements during primetime took place on reality programs (4,664).

Download Nielsen’s State of the Media: Advertising & Audiences Part 1: Primetime by Genre.

Primetime is defined as Monday–Saturday 8pm to 11pm and Sunday 7pm to 11pm.