As DVR penetration inches upward, we are starting to see that so many people are time-shifting their viewing too certain shows, that the rankings change depending on what data you use.
The press, for example, primarily uses Live + Same Day ratings (which makes sense because they have daily deadlines, and don't want to wait a week before they report on how a tv show performed. But when you look at ratings for the full week, the data is often substantially different.
So when you see ratings reported in the press, it's not really a true indication of a network or program's popularity.
For example, CBS's The Big Bang Theory gets a 3.0 live rating among adults 18-49, which is good enough to rank 15th among all primetime network series. But the live + SD rating is a 4.3 (7th) and the Live + 7 rating is 5.4 (6th). FOX's Houseaverages a 2.6 rating among adults 18-49 on a live basis, ranking 24th. But it's live + SD rating is 3.4 (21st), while its Live + 7 rating is 4.5 (13th).
And it's not just the rankings that change. There are many cases where time-shifting accounts for more than 30% of the show's audience. For example, Glee Live adult 18-49 rating is 3.4, which rises to 4.6 for Live + SD, to 5.6 for Live + 7. Grey's Anatomy goes from 3.4 for Live to 6.0 for Live + 7. The Event goes fro a 2.1 for Live to a 3.5 for Live + 7 days.
Here are some more examples...
| |
A18-49 |
A18-49 |
A18-49 |
| |
Live (rank) |
Live + SD (rank) |
Live + 7 Days (rank) |
| Modern Family |
3.5 (4) |
4.8 (2) |
6.3 (2) |
| Grey's Anatomy |
3.4 (6) |
4.5 (5) |
6.0 (3) |
| Glee |
3.4 (6) |
4.6 (4) |
4.6 (4) |
| The Big Bang Theory |
3.0 (15) |
4.3 (7) |
5.4 (6) |
| The Office |
2.8 (18) |
3.8 (11) |
5.0 (7) |
| Family Guy |
3.5 (4) |
4.1 (8) |
4.8 (10) |
| Dancing With the Stars |
3.8 (3) |
4.4 (6) |
4.7 (11) |
| House |
2.6 (24) |
3.4 (21) |
4.5 (13) |
| Survivor: Nicaragua |
2.6 (24) |
3.7 (13) |
4.4 (14) |
| Hawaii Five-0 |
3.0 (15) |
3.3 (22) |
4.4 (14) |
| The Mentalist |
2.8 (18) |
3.1 (27) |
4.1 (21) |
| Dancing With the Stars - Res |
3.1 (14) |
3.5 (18) |
3.8 (26) |
| The Event |
2.1 (45) |
2.6 (42) |
3.5 (29) |
| Bones |
2.1 (45) |
2.6 (42) |
3.5 (29) |
| Fringe |
1.6 (56) |
2.0 (48) |
2.9 (46) |
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| Sternberg analysis of copyrights Nielsen data (9.20-10/31) |
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Nice post. I believe that a majority of the Live+7 viewing occurs within the first three days too, which further makes this story important.
Posted by: Andrew Miller | 11/24/2010 at 09:56 AM