While Fox gives up on the ratings because more and more viewers time-shift their programming, other networks and buyers maintain that the metric still has some value, especially for brands with time-sensitive messages and campaigns.
TVB analysis of Nielsen data for June 2013 indicates average-quarter-hour Live+SD ratings were within 5% of C3 ratings for the month. Said Jane Williams, CMG’s EVP for television: “As our consumers’ viewing habits continue to evolve, it is more important than ever for our industry and our advertisers to have the most accurate and reliable audience measurement data possible.”
TVB analysis of Nielsen data for June 2013 indicates average-quarter-hour Live+SD ratings were within 6% of C3 ratings for the month. Said Jordan Wertlieb, president of Hearst Television: “Clearly our business must be given better credit for viewership in the new landscape.”
Paul Karpowicz, president, Meredith Local Media Group: “Without accounting for time shifting, we are leaving a significant number of impressions unaccounted for our advertisers, and that shortfall will only increase as the industry adds more time-shifting to the ratings standard.”
Rebecca Campbell, president of the ABC Owned Television Stations Group: “Live+same day is the metric most consistent with the national C3 model. We also believe our advertisers gain real and significant value beyond same day viewing.”
Valari Staab, president, NBC Owned Television Stations: “As consumers rely more and more on time-shifted viewing, we strongly believe that live-plus-same-day ratings data best reflects how people watch television today and should be adopted as the minimum standard for local viewing measurement.”
Exclusives
The group says data from this past TV season confirms a February analysis that found that live-plus-same-day ratings most closely represent national C3 estimates, while live-only results are moving further away from C3 averages.
Lanzano Makes The Case For Live+Same Day
“Simply put, live-plus-same-day data is not only more accurate, it is the most logical and reasonable measure of local television viewing. It mirrors the three-day time-shifted currency currently accepted by network advertisers and prepares local TV measurement to progress as the national currency advances to capture C7 and cross-platform viewing.”
Live-plus-time-shifted data is most representative of American consumers’ current television viewing habits according to TVB, which on thursday reiterated its position on audience measurement related to actual TV viewing. An analysis of Nielsen time-shifted data reveals that live-plus-same day A25-54 viewing is consistently moving closer to the nationall C3 currency rating standard while the live-only data stream is moving farther from the national standard.
Both the C3 and live program ratings for the first week of the season were down on average 17% versus the year before. NBC and CBS had better live-plus-same-day ratings than C3, but Fox and ABC witnessed a different story.
