After considerable posturing, agency and network executives drew up the C3 Compromise for the national marketplace several years back. Hammering out a deal on a dominant currency in the local broadcast market has been far more knotty. TVB chief Steve Lanzano is floating a creative alternative: “live plus three with an adjustment factor.” It attempts to bring some commercial ratings to local TV. The key figure is an estimated 50% of the ads watched with a DVR are skipped.
The Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals might be headed to the World Series, but the Philadelphia Phillies garnered the top local TV ratings in 2011. This season, nearly one-tenth of Philadelphia households — the most of any market — tuned in during regular season, locally televised Phillies games, and more than double (21.6%) of those households tuned in during the playoffs. Interestingly, half of the playoff teams were among the top 10 for household ratings for regular season, locally televised games and all three top teams made the playoffs.
