Powerpoint

7 critiques of ratings and measurements

1. Sample Size - Can a small number of people represent everyone? 2. Lack of Representation - Many places aren't counted like bars and hospitals 3. Ethnic Representation 4. Cooperation - 50% - 75% of people asked refused to participate 5. Definition of viewing/listening/visiting 6. Station Tampering - : Stations try to influence results by running special viewing incentives to increase numbers during sweeps like cliffhanger. 7. Device Limitations - accidentally press and button and land on a show

In 2005, Nielsen introduced

Active/Passive (A/P) Meters. This combines the measurement of what channel is being viewed with program data embedded in the program. It also measured viewing for programs Live

Seamless Strategy

Eliminating breaks between shows lessens the chance viewers will change the channel. They create a seamless transition between programs.

Today, cable is available to over

over 99% of US Homes

Ratings = X; Shares = Y

ratings = receivers and shares = viewers

National Sales Rep

sells commercial airtime of local stations to national advertiser. Pick best show for advertising and give ratings

What is a program?

A program is a unit of content. It can be a YouTube video, TV series or Hollywood movie

Shows enter the syndication chain in four different ways:

"First-Run" - These are programs that are created exclusively for syndication (Ellen, Entertainment Tonight, Judge Judy). "Off-Network" - Programs that aired on a network and are then sold into syndication (Family Guy, Bones, Modern Family) "Off-Cable" - Shows that were originally aired on one cable channel and go to another cable channel (not to a network). Remember, the cable channel owners often own a large number of channels "Feature Films" - Including theatricals, made-for-TV, movie-of-the-week, etc...

Primetime

"the financial jewel in the media crown, pulling in billions of dollars each year for the networks" The networks have compensated for these declines by increasing the amount of advertising time and increasing advertising rates. They have also sold time on the most popular shows packaged together with time during less popular shows

How are networks saving money

. They hire their subsidiaries to perform work, thus keeping money within the corporate umbrella, they create shows with alternate revenue sources

Audiences are typically measured in

15 minute intervals

Nielsen nationwide data comes from ...

20,000 people-meters. These are problematic because they only measure 1 TV in the household, only count the top 30 or so cable channels and don't show how many people are watching.

Affiliates promise to air the programs provided and allow the network to retain about ...

75% of the commercial time. This exchange of commercial airtime for programming is the basis for the entire network/affiliate agreement.

Netflix

75% of viewing is thanks to recommendations Closer it is to the front of the row, the more likely it'll be played

6 companies account for over X% of domestic business:

75%; CBS Television Distribution Disney-ABC Domestic Television NBCUniversal Television Sony Pictures Television Twentieth Television Warner Bros. Domestic Television

There are three (3) changes in society and industry that have dramatically affected programming

: digitization, Internet access and media competition

Digitization has

Allowed the traditional television set to be displaced by many devices that will receive television content (ipad, computer, smartphone) Given rise to the DVR that has encouraged developments such as on-demand television Viewers now want higher quality definition (HDTV), leading to new production criteria All of these changes allow audiences to consume content in new ways

Lynchpin Strategy

Also known as tentpoling. The network focuses on a central strong show to brace the shows before and after it.

SPOILER ALERT article

Commenting on a new study from Cablevision and Time Warner Cable that finds 74% of TV-tuning occurs outside of prime time for New York City-area cable customers, Media Dynamics Inc's Ed Papazian says this is also true on a national basis -- and that on average, adults only watch about 29 different channels per month.

The introduction of people meters has benefited cable services far more than most broadcast stations or their networks. Why?

Because people who fill-in their viewing diaries at the end of the week often forget the names of smaller channels and over-estimate viewing of better known channels. People meters provide more precise data.

Rotating Strategy

Because the amount of hit shows is limited, networks may only air them every other week. They will rotate a time slot between two shows, alternating each week.

Anchoring Strategy

Beginning the evening with a strong program (the anchor show). Sometimes referred to as the "lead-off" Key belief: Programmers have traditionally believed that the network winning the ratings for the first hour of prime time also usually wins the entire night This strategy is not widely used/supported today

The big four

CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX

The Small One

CW

In Music there are two popular methods of qualitative research

Call-out research takes short segments of songs and plays them to people over the phone. Usually, people will listen to 15 or 20 song clips (hooks) and vote on likeability (scale of 1 to 10) after each one. This helps determine what songs people like/dislike. Auditorium research plays music for 75 to 150 people in one location and asks them to rate songs. These can involved 200 to 400 songs

The book is divided into 4 parts

Daypart Audiences - reports ratings, shares and demographics during time blocks throughout the day. Time Period Averages- break down the dayparts into more specific 15-minute and 30-minute segments Program Audiences- match the time segments with actual shows allowing analysis of individual programs. These are "pure programming" numbers Syndicated Program Reports- provides detailed reports on how syndicated programs are performing in different markets so stations can estimate the likely performance of syndicated shows in their market. This helps with buying decisions

Dayparts

Early Morning (6am-9am): Mostly local news shows as lead-ins for network morning news programs (Today, Good Morning America) Morning (9am-12pm): Low Households Using Television (HUTs) in this period results in differing strategies among the networks. Afternoon (12pm-4pm): Soaps, court shows, talk shows, game shows. Vs. counterprogramming of syndicated re-runs. Early Fringe (4pm-7pm): A low priority timeframe for networks. Usually a time for local programming, news, etc... Advantage of local stations? More revenue! Prime Access (7pm-8pm): Remember when we talked about the Prime-Time Access Rule (PTAR) imposed by the FCC in 1970 in an effort to generate more programming in the public interest. Also, the FCC wanted to encourage more non-network programming. This was bypassed by the creation of cheap to produce programming like news magazines and game shows. But, as it turned out these became so popular that even after the rules were rescinded (1996) the shows remain. Prime Time (8pm-11pm): This is the highest viewed, most prestigious period. We will get into much more detail about this period in a minute. Late Fringe (11pm-11:35pm): Mostly local late news. Some syndicated re-runs. Older demographic - but not too old b/c elderly fall asleep early Late Night (11:35pm-2am): Jimmy Fallon, Letterman, etc... Overnight (2am-6am): Crap. But even crap that can sell a commercial spot for $20 each results in considerable income each year. Stations no longer sign-off as they used to. Why invite people to change the channel?

How is this content relayed into homes?

From a network to its affiliates (original programming) A station or group purchases content from a syndicator From the local station that produced its own content

The people watching TV or listening to radio are expressed as

Households Using Television (HUTs), People Using Television (PUTs) and People Using Radio (PURs)

Barter time

In exchange for a lower licensing fee, a network might retain some commercial time for their national advertisers

Nielsen conducts four nationwide measurements of audiences (sweeps) for all local stations each year. These occur in

November, February, May and July.

3 major firms in this area

Katz Media Group, Tele Rep, and Petry Media

Who are the people making the buying decisions?

Once left to individual programmers, due to escalating costs, purchasing is more often done at the station group level

Measurements are also taken at a smaller level as ...

Metro Rating Areas (TV) or Metro Survey Area (Radio). These are a big city and several counties immediately surrounding that city.

Measurements are also taken at a larger level as an...

NSI Area (Nielsen Station Index). This includes the DMA plus some additional counties if there is a substantial audience there. This is more commonly used in radio and not television. It tends to capture areas where TV signals are not received and radio is still the primary form of OTA transmitted media.

Countering Strategy

Networks schedule programs to pull viewers away from other networks. This is also called counterprogramming

Blunting Strategy

Networks schedule programs with identical appeal to their competitors. Problem: If two networks blunt each other, by showing say law dramas at the same time, they will often split the audience and another network will benefit by picking up everyone else who doesn't like that genre.

Strip Sampling Strategy

Networks try to get viewers to tune-in and sample a show in hopes they will like it and continue to watch. They will Strip new shows across a time. So, all new shows will appear M-F at 8:00 for example. How has technology changed this strategy? Networks offer free pilot episodes of shows online - allowing sampling.

Supersizing Strategy

Networks will increase the length of popular shows to fill scheduling gaps. This can be used in conjunction with other strategies like bridging, where a 1-hour show might go 1.5 hours.

Habit Formation

People form habits of listening and watching and programmers play into those habits This leads to the development of strategies such as strip programming or stripping. That is scheduling a program Monday thru Friday at the same time each day. This is done with network news, morning talk, even syndicated re-reruns Re-runs are good because there is already a backlog of episodes, making stripping easy to accomplish. So, many cable channel buy recent hits and strip them (Example, USA showing Modern Family re-runs 5 nights/week) Stripping is NOT as common in prime-time b/c networks don't want to pay for a backlog of shows in advance and want to maintain their flexibility to make changes as needed. Also, if a program was stripped each night in prime-time it would reduce the number of shows it could offer and rely too much on a single program. Have you ever gotten into a habit of watching a particular show each night at the same time?

Blocking Strategy

Placing a new program within a set of similar typed shows (dramas sitcoms, etc...) to create a period of time with one type of show. Problems: A new show might lack the staying power of established shows, people burn out on the same types of shows

Lead-in Strategy

Placing a strong series before weak one. Similar to "Lead-off" but can occur anywhere in prime time. Theoretically, the audience will carry over or flow into the next program

Hammock Strategy

Placing a weaker program between two stronger shows in hopes the audience will flow thru from the first to the third and increase ratings for the weaker show. Problem - the network needs enough strong shows to utilize this strategy

What is programming?

Programming can refer to an outcome (a group of programs) or a process (the act of choosing and scheduling programs)

Compatibility

Programs can be times to coincide with what people do throughout the daily cycle of their lives. Think about your daily schedule and how programs are timed in/out of synch with that schedule. Each day is divided into a Daypart (early morning, morning, afternoon, early fringe, etc..). More details on this in future lecture. There is some variability in strategies. Broadcast TV is trying to appeal to the most people possible, so they cater to the lowest common denominator. Cable TV can accommodate more specialized audiences and cater to teens, night-shift workers, etc...

Television companies use research to evaluate programs and audiences. Different types of research can be divided into three categories.

Qualitative and quantitative measures of the programs themselves. Qualitative and quantitative measures of audience preferences and reactions. Quantitative measures of audience size.

What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative?

Qualitative tries to explain why people make specific program choices and what they think about those programs. Quantitative reports (in the form of numbers) what people are listening to or watching

Conservation of Program Resources

Radio and television notoriously burn up program materials at a high rate. Therefore, a high quantity of programming consists of repeating previously aired shows. Example: Trend in airing previous week's episode before current episode. Trend in showing marathons of shows before season premiers. Or, recently in the case of Breaking Bad, a marathon of 61 episodes leading up to the series finale #62.

Internet access

Recent developments allowing for faster and wireless access has allowed the internet to provide audiences with four (4) things: Replays of movies and TV programs New original programming made by both amateurs and professionals Program "para-texts" and complimentary information Multiple ways to reach audiences with promotional and advertising materials The Internet has competed with traditional media industries, stealing audiences away from radios, televisions and movie theaters

TV News article

Research shows that this year 80% of viewers consumed video content via broadcast TV, versus the remainder who preferred other platforms like OTT or video on demand. However, that number was down from 2011, when 89% of consumers favored linear TV. Panelists at a CCW-SATCON session said the industry — both the broadcast and advertising sides — need to start considering broadcast TV "one part of the mix," and find the means to capture — and measure — consumers across platforms.

Local news programs benefit the local station in several ways:

Risk Mitigation: News programs are rarely financial failures. They are less risky than other types of programs Exclusivity of Product: The names, faces and personalities of a newscast are exclusive to the individual station Brand-Building: Local news and prime-time success are linked. The news can build a positive brand image of the station for viewers Customization of Product: News content is easily customizable for the market, changing tastes, to compete with other stations, etc... For example, certain segments such as weather can be extended if they are popular Cost Containment: Start-up costs are high to build a set, purchase equipment, hire personnel, etc... However, the long-term costs are relatively stable and the cost to add additional programming based on this foundation is low Revenue Enhancement: News programs can be profitable. The station owns all of the time, so they can keep all of the revenues, advertisers see the news as a safe time to promote their products, advertisers associate news airtime as being prestigious

The process of actually doing the job of programming divides into four major parts:

Selection Programmers must select programs to go into a lineup. Separate lineups need to be programmed for home televisions, online sites and apps Scheduling Programs must be placed in an arrangement that maximizes the likelihood of their being viewed by the desired audience. Promotion Programs must be promoted to attract attention to new shows, new episodes of a series and tell viewers where to find shows (especially important as scheduling changes are made). Evaluation Programmers must continually evaluate the outcome of their decisions.

Doubling Strategy

Showing two episodes of the same show one after the other. Problem: The network only gets a certain # of shows, so they use up their supply sooner. One variation of this is showing an older episode followed by a newer episode. This can include times when large blocks of time are dedicated to showing one program leading up to a new episode ( networks are copying this move by cable channels)

DMA's (Designated Market Areas)

geographic areas that receive the same local TV signal.

The # of households that have the ability to get cable are called

homes passed (HP) - for homes passed by cable wires.

Negative of Network programming

Some affiliates have poor technology, low-rated newscasts and perform poorly. This causes the network to look for other stations to affiliate with For affiliates, the programs that the network provides may not appeal to their local demographics Yet, both the network and affiliate need each other because each fills a void in the relationship (network = content & financial resources, affiliate = local presence)

Bridging Strategy

Starting a show in during the access hour and continue it into prime time. This offsets people changing the channel at the start of prime time Also used to end shows at odd times to prevent people from changing to other networks where they would have already missed the beginning of another show. A third bridging strategy schedules half-hour shows against hour-long shows. This forced audiences to stay w/ the half-hour shows or change to catch only the second half of the hour-long episode

Breadth of Appeal

Stations and cable providers must appeal to a wide variety of audience interests. The number of people consuming media and the amount of time they are spending with media is enormous. Everyone wants a share.

Nearly all programs are produced by one of 4 entities:

TV studios (NBC Studios, CBS Studios) the television production divisions of the movie studios (Paramount, WB, Disney) the very few remaining independent producers the local stations

Who are the show runners? People who lead to the creation of a show.

The Producer and Production Company

Network Programming

The classic network model maximizes the economies of scale in the broadcasting business because the cost of producing one program can be spread over hundreds of affiliates. In network distributed programs, the network keeps about 75% of the commercial time and the local affiliate sells the remaining time. Affiliates have exclusive first rights to network programs. Networks supply 12 to 16 hours of programming each day - which is about 50% - 66% of their programming needs.

The Network-Affiliate Agreement

The legal document with the specific promises made by both parties is called the affiliation agreement. The network agrees to exclusively provide the affiliate with content. Exclusive means only 1 station in a market can carry a program. The network pays the affiliate a fee for airing its shows. This fee is called network compensation.

What does a programmer do?

The process of selecting, scheduling, promoting and evaluating programs define the work of a programmer A programmer chooses content that targets the desired audience, designs a schedule, makes sure the content is effectively marketed, and monitors the outcome At its simplest level, when you load your smartphone with content, you are performing the work of a programmer

Media Competition

There has been increasing conglomeration across media industries. For example, Comcast (an MSO) bought NBC Universal. (Announced 2009, 100% ownership as of 2013) There have been new players in the field (Netflix, YouTube, Crackle, Amazon, etc..) There has been a rise of new players (Spanish language networks - Univision, Telemundo, TeleFutura) Fewer voices in media (as we have discussed) Financial clout of an owner influences the purchase price of programs Distribution is affected by ownership Leads to increased conservatisms because as financial risks increase, big owners act more carefully. Thus, there is less innovation, more sameness and an increase in re-using the same content

Stunting Strategy

This includes scheduling special episodes, events, guest stars or some other alteration to the normal schedule Example: Last week NBC held a cross-over event by combining the storylines of Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The results? Increased ratings by 29%*

The Spanish Language 3

Univision, TeleFutura, Telemundo

Because of challenges introduced with the DVR. DVR use is a concern because:

Viewers can shift viewing to periods outside of tracking times It is a disruption to the scheduling work of programmers Audiences have the ability to skip commercials (leads to new approaches to advertising)

Control of Audience Flow

When one show ends and another begins, programmers want audiences to flow from one show to the next. Programmers try to get people to flow from one show to the next within their channel, but they also try to maximize flow into their channel and minimize flow out of their channel. Programmers can use strategies such as counterprogramming to disrupt a competitor's flow.

Rating results are printed in...

a "ratings book" or "market report" for each of the 210 markets. Each book can cost between 10k and $1.5 million depending on the market size.

Once purchased, each station has the exclusive right, in the local market, to...

air all of the episodes it purchase for the specific term of the license

A share is

an estimate of the percentage of people or households that are actually using radio or watching television during a specific daypart

A rating is

an estimate of the percentage of the total number of people or households in a population tuned to a specific station or network during a specific time period (daypart)

Audience are reported as

average quarter hour (AQH) and cumulative audience (cum)

The number (percentage) of households that actually subscribe is called

called cable penetration. This number hovers around 61% or 70 million subscribers. (another 36 million subscribe to satellite TV and other pay services

Online radio and video measurement is being undertaken by

comScore

Derived from audience behaviors, there are 5 broad assumptions that form the basis for effective programming:

compatibility, habit formation, control of audience flow, conservation of program resources, breadth of appeal.

Prices vary because of

market size and competition

syndicated programs

mostly reruns of TV series, specials and movies generally sold to individual stations or station groups for exclusive showing in a market

In addition to configuring advertising expenditures and revenue, the dayparts also

set the boundaries for the programming strategies that capture the time, money and effort of broadcasting producers and executives

Programmers care most about their

shares

Portable People Meters are used in

the 48 largest radio markets

the sources of content for local stations:

the networks locally produce advertiser supplied or syndicated

A share is calculated as

the number of households watching a network divided by the number of all household watching TV (people actually watching TV)

A rating is calculated as

the number of households watching a network divided by the number of all households with receivers (people capable of watching TV)

Qualitative research is used to

to test program concepts, pilots and episodes The primary company conducting this research, ASI, conducts viewings (in special theaters) and surveys in LA and Vegas