If you’ve used our Streaming Sports Dashboard, you’re familiar with how quickly it surfaces insights like top advertisers, spend, and activity across leagues and platforms.
In our Explore Feature within 360, you have access to the same underlying data, but the experience is different.
Instead of a pre-built dashboard, Explore gives you the flexibility to build your own custom reports.
This guide shows you how to translate the Streaming Sports Dashboard workflow into a repeatable process in Explore so you can pull the same insights with confidence.
If you only subscribe to Streaming Sports in 360 and not to the Sports Dashboard, this article is still for you!
Streaming Sports Dashboard vs. Explore
Before diving in, it’s important to understand the key differences between the Dashboard and Explore:
Dashboard = pre-structured, visual, and guided
Explore = flexible, customizable, and user-built
You won’t recreate the dashboard exactly, but you can recreate the insights in Explore by following the same logic.
What You’re Recreating from the Dashboard
Most users rely on the Streaming Sports Dashboard to answer questions like:
Who are the top advertisers in a given league or platform?
How much are they spending?
Where (programs, platforms, leagues) are they active?
When is activity happening?
The Dashboard workflow typically follows a layered approach:
Select a League
Narrow to a Program
Choose a Platform
Adjust your Date Range
Select your Metric
View results by Brand and Category Levels
In the Explore feature in 360, you’ll rebuild this step-by-step by selecting the appropriate sorts, measures, and column type.
Step 1: Build Your Base Report in Explore
Start by selecting the core fields that mirror the Dashboard's filters and structure.
Profile Tab
Select from the following:
Link = Brands/Categories are linked to the selected profile (can only make
changes within the profile).
Populate = Selections are copied from the selected profile (can make changes
within the Explore report, will not affect the profile).
None = Run a report from scratch without using a profile.
Layout Tab (Rows, Measures, Columns)
Include the following Sorts:
Advertiser
Category and/or Industry
Sports League/Event
Program
Property (Platform)
Time Period
These fields define how your data is grouped.
Make sure the option to include Subtotals is turned OFF.
Add Measures
Dollars (Spend)
Units (Occurrences)
These replicate the key metrics from the Dashboard.
Quick Tip:
Adjust your sorts grouping depending on your goal:
Use Advertiser for brand-level insights
Use Category or Industry for higher-level trends
There’s no single “correct” setup. The right structure depends on the question you'd like to answer.
Step 2: Recreate the “Top Advertisers” View
In the Sports Dashboard, top advertisers are automatically summarized into a clean ranking.
In Explore, your data will appear more granular (e.g., multiple rows per advertiser across programs and dates).
How to get the same result in Explore:
In the Layout Tab, choose Pivot Export as your Column Type.
Run your report and export into Excel.
Use a pivot table (in Excel or similar) to:
Aggregate by advertiser
Rank by spend or units
This is the most effective way to replicate the Dashboard’s summarized view.
Step 3: Analyze Activity Over Time
The Streaming Sports Dashboard includes a timeline view showing when ads ran across programs.
While Explore doesn’t replicate this exact format, you can still analyze trends using two approaches:
Option A: Use the Time Period Column Type
Select the Time Period column type.
Select your time period cadence in the Time Periods tab (e.g., monthly).
Columns become time-based (January, February, etc.)
Rows (sorts) will show advertiser, program, property, etc.
Option B: Include Date as a Dimension
Add Date of Week and/or Time Period as a sort.
Analyze activity chronologically or via pivot tables.
Note: Explore cannot fully replicate the Dashboard's combined program and timeline visualization, but these approaches provide similar insights.
Step 4: Viewing Creatives
Within the Streaming Sports Dashboard, creatives are presented as part of a structured, hierarchical layout.
The typical structure looks like:
Advertiser
Product
Creative
Length
Spend or Units
To recreate the Dashboard view in Explore, you’ll follow a similar logic using sorts to mirror the hierarchy and measures to quantify activity.
Layout Tab (Rows, Measures, Columns)
Include the following Sorts:
Advertiser
Product
Creative
Length
This mirrors how creatives are featured within the Dashboard and ensures your data flows in a logical, readable way.
Add Measures
Dollars (Spend)
Units (Occurrences)
These measures allow you to evaluate where spend is concentrated across creative variations and which creatives are running most frequently.
Your Explore report output will be more granular than the Dashboard.
Instead of a polished visual summary, you’ll see:
Multiple rows per advertiser
Separate entries for each creative and length
Detailed, row-level data
This is expected and beneficial.
The Explore report output gives you the raw structure needed to analyze creatives more deeply or export them for reporting.
How to get the same result in Explore:
In the Layout Tab, choose Pivot Export as your Column Type.
Run your report and export into Excel.
Use a pivot table (in Excel or similar) to:
Aggregate by Advertiser or Product
Compare Creatives by Total Spend or Units
Identify top performing creative variations
This is especially useful when you want to simplify large datasets and if you need to present findings in a more friendly format.
Step 5: Apply Key Filters Thoughtfully
To match the Streaming Sports Dashboard workflow, refine your report using additional filters.
This layered filtering is essential to narrowing your analysis and getting meaningful results.
Narrow by Property (e.g., Prime Video, Netflix) in the Media/Markets tab.
Narrow by Sports League/Event (e.g., College Football, Major League Baseball, National Football League, etc.) in Media Markets: TV/CTV/Radio option.
Quick Tip:
Select Program (specific games or shows) as a Sort in the Layout Tab to break
the selected Sports League/Event ad activity out by Program.
Important Notes on Data
Data Availability may vary
Some users may only see categories or brands included in their subscription.Earliest available data begins around August 21, 2025
Be sure your date range reflects this.Granularity affects output
More detailed selections = more rows
Use pivoting or aggregation to simplify results.
Best Practices
Start Simple!
Begin with:
Advertiser
League
Property (Platform)
Spend
Then layer in more detail as needed.
Use Explore for Data Extraction
Think of Explore as your data builder, not your final presentation layer.
Use Pivot Tables for Final Analysis
Pivot tables help you:
Aggregate results
Rank advertisers
Recreate Tableau-style summaries
Know When to Use the Dashboard vs. Explore
Use the Dashboard for quick visualization
Use Explore for custom reporting and deeper analysis
Conclusion
While our Streaming Sports Dashboard provides a guided, visual experience, Explore gives you the flexibility to build exactly what you need.
By following the same workflow (selecting Sporting League/ Event, Programs, Properties, Column Types, and Measures) you can confidently recreate dashboard insights in Explore and tailor them to your specific reporting needs.
If you have any questions, you can reach out to your dedicated Client Success Manager or contact our Support Team at customersupport@mediaradar.com.