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The May sweeps are down by 7 million viewers compared to November 2007 sweeps, and many of the networks’ most popular shows are drawing between 2 million and 3 million fewer viewers than in the fall.
CSI is averaging 17.5 million viewers, down from 20.5 million in November, while Grey’s Anatomy is averaging 15.8 million, down from 19.4 million, writes Mediaweek. House, on Fox, is down 18 percent to 14.6 million.
The numbers for most shows, both the hits and the second-tier programs, are well below audience level guarantees set in the last upfront.
Buyers say there will likely be plenty of inventory during the summer to give as makegoods - due to a depressed economy - so it is not likely the networks will have to push makegoods into the fall. Last summer, heavy ad demand combined with a large amount of makegoods made scatter pricing soar, with ad units in the fall anywhere from 40 percent to 50 percent higher than upfront prices.
Magna Global’s Steve Sternberg says that, while viewership declines are hefty this year, it is not because of the writers strike. “Ratings in the spring are consistently lower than in the fourth quarter. Viewers will be back to the broadcast networks next season, although normal audience erosion will continue.”
Hyper-conservative Rush Limbaugh - heard weekly by nearly 20 million listeners on about 600 radio stations nationwide - renewed his contract with Premiere Radio Networks and Clear Channel Radio, continuing syndication of The Rush Limbaugh Show.
The deal also includes…
WSJ.com’s traffic soared an impressive 94 percent in June compared to the same month last year, according to the company’s internal traffic numbers.
Total page views ballooned 45 percent, to 150 million, compared to the same month last year, writes Mediaweek.…
Kozy Shack, maker of rice and chocolate pudding, is sponsoring the New York Mets, with tubs of the pudding being sold individually at Shea Stadium as well as being included in children’s meals. And the snacks are selling so well…
Though U.K. advertiser investment committed for 2008 is staying put, discretionary spending is becoming shorter-term, at or slightly short of budget; still, WPP’s GroupM forecasts 4 percent growth in 2008 and 3 percent in 2009 for the U.K., thanks to internet…
Email is the most popular form of direct response marketing, with 35 percent of companies using it - compared to 25 percent that use traditional direct mail - according to a new survey conducted by Direct Partners (via Adweek).
The survey…
Without spam protection, the average web user can expect to get 70 spam messages each day, according to a survey by McAfee, the BBC reports (via MarketingVOX).
For the McAfee spam test, 50 people worldwide were asked to web-surf without a spam…
