Several series get a bump when DVR viewing numbers are factored in

[DevdogAZ]

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2008-10-13-dvr-viewing_N.htm?csp=34

Networks worried about declining ratings can take some comfort in the growing DVR crowd.

In the first set of delayed-viewing numbers from the new season, out Monday, the four major broadcast networks collectively added an average of nearly 3 million viewers who watched shows from one to seven days after their original airing.

In all, 16 prime-time series on the four major networks gained 1 million or more viewers. But the gains are particularly startling for some shows: In the official premiere week of the new TV season, they reflect a 7% boost for ABC's Desperate Housewives and a 20% jump for Fox's Fringe. Among other top gainers, Heroes and House rose about 18%, and The Office was up 16% compared with same-day viewing levels. CW's 90210 also saw a big 19.5% gain, but the show's comparatively small audience meant it added fewer than 600,000 viewers.

The rest of the article is interesting too, but that's the gist. It will be interesting to see how this affects ad rates. Perhaps Thursday will no longer be the big night for ads, as advertisers realize that the Tuesday and Wednesday ads might have a better chance of being viewed before the weekend.

[WhiskeyTango]

If I understood the article correctly, they only count viewers within 3 days of its air time which is when they determine what ad rates to charge. So basically these numbers are irrelevant. Which sucks because it does show a significantly higher number of people are watching than what shows up in the overnight ratings report. The whole Nielson ratings system is bubkus and needs to be replaced.

[LifeIsABeach]

[url]It will be interesting to see how this affects ad rates. Perhaps Thursday will no longer be the big night for ads, as advertisers realize that the Tuesday and Wednesday ads might have a better chance of being viewed before the weekend.

Has there been a study about the percentage of DVR users who watch ads? I wonder what the percentage would be.

[jlb]

Exactly. These numbers are deceiving. Sure, they show that certain shows are getting more viewers than originally "thought". But as noted above, what % of these 3 million (or whatever) viewers actually stop to watch an ad.........I would say maybe 10% at best.

So even if a show is on the bubble, and then there is a 20% boost when you factor DVR viewers, if they are not watching ads, it still may doom the show.

[DevdogAZ]

According to the article, there is some reduced rate charged to advertisers for viewers who watch 1-3 days after initial airing. This is helpful to the networks. And while those viewers who watch 4-7 days later don't result in direct revenue to the networks, they can still quote the total number of viewers to make their shows seem more popular, which in turn encourages more people to watch.

[ElJay]

It means they can get more for product placement advertisements. :)

[jlb]

True

[JLucPicard]

I'm still unclear on whether:

(a) people that watch "live" (do not record) programs actually watch commercials. Yes, there is more of a likelihood that these people may at least have eyes on the commercials, but what percentage of these live-watchers use commercial breaks to do other things and don't just watch the commercials straight through - and -

(b) people who record the programs on their DVRs actually make use of the FF button on their remotes. Again, there is a likelihood that a high percentage do, but I imagine there are a fair number of them that hit "play" when it starts and "delete" when it ends and not much, if any, in between.

You just never know! :)

[allietx]

I'm still unclear on whether:
(b) people who record the programs on their DVRs actually make use of the FF button on their remotes. Again, there is a likelihood that a high percentage do, but I imagine there are a fair number of them that hit "play" when it starts and "delete" when it ends and not much, if any, in between.

I definitely think there are different styles. My husband will not watch 1/10th of a second of the commercials if he can help it-- even if it means ff and rwd a couple of times to get it to the right spot (sigh). I usually forget to ff through at least half of the commercials when I am just sitting there watching by myself. More often than not though I am also doing something else while watching TiVo (cooking dinner, etc). In those instances, I never ff at all-- just hit play and delete.

Occasionally I ask my husband to play the ad when he is ff if it is something I am interested in. Sometimes he does. ;)

[marrone]

More advertising bugs on the bottom of the screen :(. Hard to FF through those.

-Mike

[pjenkins]

what's an "ad"? ;) ;)

[DevdogAZ]

I'm still unclear on whether:

(a) people that watch "live" (do not record) programs actually watch commercials. Yes, there is more of a likelihood that these people may at least have eyes on the commercials, but what percentage of these live-watchers use commercial breaks to do other things and don't just watch the commercials straight through - and -

(b) people who record the programs on their DVRs actually make use of the FF button on their remotes. Again, there is a likelihood that a high percentage do, but I imagine there are a fair number of them that hit "play" when it starts and "delete" when it ends and not much, if any, in between.

You just never know! :)
I'm sure the advertisers have some sort of multiplier to determine how many eyeballs actually see their ads. Probably something like half of those who watch a show live and 10% of those who watch time shifted. If the show has enough viewers, that's still a good way to reach a lot of eyeballs. Let's not forget that national TV ads are a major shotgun approach anyway, and are often simply brand recognition ads rather than "go buy this product now" ads, so it's not like they ads are very specific for target demographics.

[bengalfreak]

I'm still unclear on whether:

(a) people that watch "live" (do not record) programs actually watch commercials. Yes, there is more of a likelihood that these people may at least have eyes on the commercials, but what percentage of these live-watchers use commercial breaks to do other things and don't just watch the commercials straight through - and -

(b) people who record the programs on their DVRs actually make use of the FF button on their remotes. Again, there is a likelihood that a high percentage do, but I imagine there are a fair number of them that hit "play" when it starts and "delete" when it ends and not much, if any, in between.

You just never know! :)


I agree there are a fair amount of people that fall under category A. I doubt seriously if there is any appreciable number in category B. One of the reasons you have a DVR is to not watch commercials. I admit that occasionally either my wife or I will go brain dead and forget to 30 sec. skip thru the ads immediately. But far more often we skip ahead. In fact, when one of us needs a bathroom break, we don't even watch commercials then. We simply skip ahead to the start of the show, and then hit LiveTV to browse until they get back.

The one exception is when my wife is watching something while cooking dinner. She doesn't take the remote with her so the ads play.

[bruinfan]

i will watch a commercial if i see something that catches my eye... i always watch the apple ads at least once. when fast forwarding, you still get product awareness/exposure... even if you are using a 30 sec skip; if advertisers were smart, they'll start making ads with big displays of their logo...

also, and i'm not in the business.. i'm sure the bumper spots garner higher rates than the others... and probably even more so now with the proliferation of timeshifting.

and like mentioned already, product placement has taken a bigger role in advertising over the past 10 years.

[bruinfan]

and, i bet they can get higher rates for live event shows, like sports and awards, cuz more people will watch those live, and sit through the commercials.

[DeathRider]

If if I don't watch a recorded program, I will timeshift and flip between the live buffers to skip the commercials if possible