Americans are spending 33+ hours per week watching video, and across numerous screens, according to the just-issued Nielsen Cross Platform Report. That is a lot of media time, but where to buy ad time? It depends who you are attempting to reach. Older viewers watch the most television. Young viewers are watching less, but as The New York Times describes it, "Youths are watching, but less often on TV."
Nielsen reported data for Q3 2010 and Q3 2011, year-over-year (YOY), and as Nielsen describes it, “changes are afoot” as consumers seek the options that make the most sense for them (usually depending upon their comfort with the Internet, or household income).
Younger viewers are spending less time watching TV, at 120.56 minutes per month, while those over 55 watch the most at 195.10 minutes per month. But the total viewer time is more even, taking into account mobile media and online. The upshot, says TechCrunch, is that “the issue isn’t as simple as switching from one medium to another,” for example, from TV to TV-over-Internet. Rather, with a “plethora of new TV consumption choices,” the mix is inconsistent, even among viewers in the same household.
Three quarters (75.3%) surveyed pay for broadband Internet, up from 70.9% in 2011. Fully 90.4% pay for cable, telco-provided TV or satellite. Also, homes with both paid TV and broadband increased 5.5% since last year.
The number of homes subscribing to wired cable decreased 4.1% over the past 12 months, while telco-provided and satellite TV increased by 21.1% and 2.1%.
Although they comprise less than 5% of TV households, homes with both broadband Internet and broadcast TV are on the rise, having grown 22.8% over the last year. In those households, viewers stream twice as much video content as do the average households, and watch half as much broadcast TV.
Among other findings for Q3 2011, YOY:
- Households watching time-shifted TV increased by 65.9% YOY
- Mobile video viewing increased by 205.7% increase in users
- TV over Internet increased by 21.7%
- Asian wired cable subscribers declined from nearly 66% to 51%
- 12% of Asians opt for telco delivery, up 3% YOY
- Hispanic homes are more likely to be broadcast only at 15%, or satellite connected at 34%, than any other ethnic demographic.
Upfront TV: Grammys Reach 195 Markets | Car Dealers Defend Ad | Roseanne’s Back | “House” Won’t
The 54th Annual Grammy Awards (airing Sunday, Feb 12 on CBS) will have “record-breaking distribution around the world,” reports Broadcasting & Cable. The show is cleared to air in 195 territories, including on Global Television in Canada; Channel 4 in the UK; MNET in Africa; even in Russia, on REN TV.
Chrysler Group’s U.S. dealers have “swung into action” to defend Chrysler’s Super Bowl ad, reports the Wall Street Journal. The “Halftime in America” spot featuring Clint Eastwood has been derided as political and pro-Obama, drawing ire from among others Rush Limbaugh. The dubious connection: the Obama administration after four years is only in its halftime. Chrysler’s Dealer Council called an emergency meeting and issued a statement that "We have no doubt that this ad had no political agenda of any kind but rather [was] a statement of fact and hope for the future for all of us and America."
Also from Broadcasting & Cable, Fox will end House after eight seasons. This eighth season will end on episode 177. “House M.D.” has declined in ratings, and Fox needs some room on the schedule with “Alcatraz” performing well and the new drama “Touch” launching in March.
Roseanne Barr will be back on network TV this fall. Director Gail Mancuso (who directed Barr’s first sitcom “Rosanne” on ABC for seven seasons) has signed on to direct “Downwardly Mobile,” about life in a trailer park, reports Deadline Hollywood.
BBC America will launch its first original program, “Copper,” to air summer 2012. Set in post-Civil War New York (but shot in Toronto), the series will follow Irish beat cop Kevin Corcoran as he patrols NYC’s notorious Five Points neighborhood.
Nickelodeon’s “NICKMOM”: 50 Projects in Development Targeting Mothers for Fall 2012
Nickelodeon has announced a new series pick-up and its development slate for NICKMOM, its prime-time, advertiser-supported television comedy block and convergent web site designed “specifically for today's moms.” The slate will launch in the fall season.
So far, so good: Nickelodeon announced that Johnson & Johnson, Target, General Mills and Reckitt Benckiser have signed on as sponsors for NICKMOM. These multi-million dollar deals include brand integration, content development and sponsorships across both the NICKMOM TV block and NICKMOM.com. This comes at a good time for Nickelodeon, which just last week was blamed for Viacom’s Q4 2011 loss, projected to continue through this quarter.
The network picked up 26 episodes of the stand-up comedy series “NickMom Night Out” for the TV block, which will launch in Q4 in prime-time on Nick Jr. Also announced were more than 50 projects in development spanning TV and digital and, including work from stand-up comedienne and actress Caroline Rhea.
The NICKMOM value proposition to viewers, said Senior Vice President Bronwen O'Keefe, is that "With NICKMOM, moms everywhere will have a place to go where they can decompress from their busy days with a dose of laugh out loud comedy." With “NickMom Night Out,” the network pledges to “take moms out for a night at the comedy club,” albeit to hear humorous takes on parenting, by comediennes such as Judy Gold, Corey Kahaney, B Phlat and Deena Blizzard. The NICKMOM site is demonstrates the “This ain’t easy, is it?” sentiment, and its adultorientation. Among its “DOs and DON’Ts of Hosting a Birthday Party for your Toddler,” DO give out loot bags, and DON’T pack your Xanax. (not ad supported) tries for an edge.
The rest of the development slate includes talk shows, stand up, sketch comedy, hidden camera, game shows, such as:
- A hybrid sketch/talk series starring and executive produced by comedian and actress Caroline Rhea and Emily Cohen (Title TBD)
- “It's Nighttime with Annabelle Gurwitch,” another talk show that “looks at the world through Gurwitch's unique mom-colored glasses”
- “The 5th Hour,” a scripted comedy show inspired by morning news shows, and executive produced by Mad Cow Productions (founded by veterans of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart)
- “Road Mamas,” a docu-series that follows three stand-up comedian moms and eight kids in one RV
Election Year Ad Buys: Who’s Tuning In, and Where?
Media buyers and planners hoping to take advantage of Campaign 2012, take note: cable news leads the pack among sources, with local TV in second place, but on the decline. A surprising second-to-last, the Internet. The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press’ 2012 campaign news survey discovered the trends in a January survey of 1,507 adults nationwide.
Pew reports that fewer Americans are closely following the campaign than four years ago, which has caused long-term and sharpening declines in the number of people tuning into local TV and network news.
Cable tops the sources in 2012, at 36%, but is only treading water. That despite the fact that cable nets have hosted most of the Republican debates, which are among a campaign year’s strongest draws. Almost half of Republicans (47%) watched a Republican debate during this campaign, up from 32% during the 2008 campaign.Still, cable news “reaches a substantial number across age and partisan lines,” reports Pew. Republicans tune into Fox News, Democrats into CNN and MSNBC.
Only 20% of Americans “regularly learn something” about the campaign or its candidates from local daily papers, a plummet from 31% in 2008. Local TV is down as well.
It is easy to blame it all on the Internet, but not so fast: the Internet as a source has gained only 1% since the 2008 campaign. The Internet had jumped from 13 to 24%, from campaign 2004 (Bush/Kerry) to campaign 2008 (McCain/Obama). Pew speculates that the Internet is the key source for a younger demographic, who are less likely to be Republican. Just 20% of those younger than 30 followed the campaign closely, down from 31% in 2008.
Upfront TV: “Face Off” Again | BET’s Ambitious Plans | Oscar Spots Sold Out | News Nets Give Fs
- Syfy has renewed Face Off for a 10-episode third season, reports Multichannel News. The competition/elimination show pits special makeup artists against one another, with top Hollywood talent (e.g., Tom Savini of numerous Living Dead movies) as judges. Face Off airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m., and scored 2.5 million viewers for its January 11 Season 2 premiere.
- Black Entertainment Television (BET) has revealed what the LA Times calls an “ambitious development slate.” Among the offerings, a new sitcom from the Wayans family; “Gun Hill,” the channel’s first scripted drama; and projects involving minister T.D. Jakes, comedian-author Steve Harvey,actor Jamie Foxx and TV judge Greg Mathis.are behind various reality projects, including one series that will revamp "Showtime at the Apollo". BET also operates the BET Vertical AdNetwork, targeting the $821 billion buying power of African-Americans.
- Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger announced that ABC has sold out commercial time for this year’s 84th Annual Academy Awards broadcast on February 26. As the LA Times reports, Iger told analysts in an earnings conference call that this is unusually early to have offloaded all inventory, even with a few more spots for the 2012 broadcast than in 2011. ABC took an average $1.7 million per 30-second spot.
- News directors don’t think much of one another’s product revealed a survey by TVNewsCheck. news directors at stations across the U.S. were asked to grade networks on their overall journalistic quality. None received As, though NBC news scored highest, and Fox News Channel (FNC), lowest. Fox News scored highest in conservative bias, and MSNBC on liberal bias. The GPAs listed refer to the “grade point average” scale of 1-4. These figures are way out of whack with public sentiment: FNC just celebrated a decade run as the most watched cable news network, with MSNBC in the #2 slot.
Upfront TV: “NCIS” at 200 | Super Bowl Tops Itself | “Voice” Soars | Hispanic News, English Language
- Kudos to CBS and “NCIS,” which tonight will air its 200th episode. The Navy/legal drama debuted in 2003, with actor Mark Harmon at the helm, who was best known for his work on NBC’s “St. Elsewhere,” and as a hunk-for-hire on such shows as “The West Wing.” “NCIS” has defied the approaching-a-decade malaise, delivering an average 22.7 million viewers for new episodes this season. 100 episodes is industry standard to reach syndication level. The record number of episodes in history television belongs to “Gunsmoke,” which ran for 20 seasons and 635 episodes.
- Super Bowl XLVI attracted a record 111.3 million total viewers, reports Media Life, to become the most-watched broadcast in television history. This is the third year running that the Super Bowl has set the record, held until 2010 by the series finale of "M*A*S*H" in 1983. It was also the highest-rated Super Bowl in 26 years, with an average 47.0 household rating and 71 share. The game took a 40.5 share among adults 18-49.
- The post-Super Bowl Season 2 premiere of “The Voice” on NBC took a 16.3 rating adult 18-49 rating, and 37.61 million viewers, reports TVByTheNumbers. This was NBC’s best rating for an entertainment telecast since the “Friends” finale in 2004, with a 24.9 share.
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ruled that NBC’s WMAQ-TV Chicago had a right to deny long-shot GOP presidential candidate Randall Terry a Super Bowl ad spot, reports Broadcasting & Cable. FCC ruled that while broadcasters must make ad time available to qualified candidates, WMAQ judged fairly that Terry was unqualified, given his showing at the polls. The ad reportedly contained graphic images of aborted fetuses, which Terry believed was behind the denial.
- Univision and Disney are in talks for a Latino-oriented 24-hour cable news channel, in English. As TVNewsCheck reports, neither company will confirm or discuss the project, but are likely to launch the channel in time for the November presidential election. The 2010 census revealed that U.S. born Latinos comprise nearly 60% of the growth among U.S. Hispanics over the last decade, and that an increasing number speak English as a first language.
Analysts: 2012 Ad Spends to be “Decent” In TV, Digital, Down in Magazines
Ad Age is predicting a pretty good, if not stellar 2012 in which digital and TV spends will be up, but magazines down.
Vincent Letang, who is executive VP and head of global forecasting at Magna Global, attributed what growth there will be—about 10.9% across all media—largely to 2012 being both an Olympics and an election year. Without them, “Some would have predicted probably a worse outlook” for 2012. But with those two powerful drivers, TV ad revenue should increase by 6.8% this year. Time will tell, with upfront spending just getting going. Thusfar only General Motors (GM) has canceled upon a significant percent of its commitments, at just shy of 50%.
TV ad revenue should increase 6.8% this year, once again, attributable once election season and the Olympics have their effect, according to Magna Global's forecast on Jan. 23. The past several weeks have been strong, but the second-quarter scatter market will ultimately provide the best indication for upfront spending, said Mel Berning, exec VP-ad sales at A&E Networks.
Ad pages fell about 8.4% in January and February issues, year-over-year (YOY), and magazines overall can expect a 5.2% decline in 2012 ad revenue, Magna Global predicts. But there are signs of health in the digital quarter, with at least one media provider (Complex Media) projecting firth-quarter revenues doubling over Q4 2012. So while print journals will see a decline, their digital properties—and they all have them—are likely to help them tread water.
Upfront TV: “Sons of Anarchy” Renewed | NBC Dooms “The Firm” | 20/20 Dominates 18-49
- Before Season 5 even airs, FX has renewed its biker drama “Sons of Anarchy” for a sixth season, reports TVByTheNumbers, and creator Kurt Sutter has been signed to a new three-year deal. “Sons of Anarchy” is expected to return in October of this year. The Season 4 premiere, which aired September 6 of 2011, was the most-watched program in FX history, with 6.5 million viewers.
- NBC has “effectively cancelled” the lawyer-in-trouble drama “The Firm,” reports Broadcasting & Cable. NBC has moved the series to the Saturdays 9 p.m. slot to “burn off” its remaining original episodes. “The Firm” was on Thursdays at 10 p.m. (a slot held for more than a decade by “E.R.”). NBC will premiere its new drama “Awake” beginning March 1, with repeats of “Grimm” running in the slot until then. “The Firm” drew a meager 0.8 rating with adults 18-49 in last Thursday’s airing.
- ABC finished #1 on Friday among adults 18-49; the network crowed in a press release that “it was the Net’s 4th straight Friday to deliver the #1 position against its network rivals.” ABC’s 20/20 took the night’s #1 position among that key young-adult demographic. Perhaps it was the subject matter: 20/20 featured an in-depth look at marriage and divorce, Hollywood style.
- More signs of struggle at the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN); “The Rosie Show” shed more staffers last week, to a total of 30 employees and contractors, and has moved taping to a smaller studio. As Crain’s Chicago Business describes, host O’Donnell is trying to “find the right formula to boost ratings,” which now average only 200,000 viewers, as opposed to its premier at 500,000. The show has done away with some fun-based elements like a game show segment, in favor of one-on-one interviews.
Upfront TV: Viacom Blames Nielsen & Nickelodeon | GM Cancels Half its Ads | “Beverly Hills Nannies”
- Viacom’s fourth-quarter cable unit ad revenue dropped 3%, reports Multichannel News, and Viacom is blaming Nielsen. Its kid-oriented Nickelodeon Channel has been on a double-digit decline since September. Viacom claims Nielsen’s measurements are inaccurate, and presented its own set-top-box data that shows steady ratings. Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman claims that without the drop-off at Nickelodeon—toymakers weren’t about to advertise for Christmas on a sinking network—Viacom’s ad revenues would have been up for Q4.
- General Motors (GM) has cancelled almost half of its Q2 upfront buys in broadcast and cable, reports Adweek, the maximum allowable under standard network contracts. GM did the same in 2009, when cancelations ran around 15%. Procter & Gamble similarly pulled out of half its commitments that year. This may not be a sign of ill health for the #1 U.S., than a sign of streamlining. GM recently consolidated its global media buying and planning account with Carat, cutting loose several regional agencies.
- NBC will use ultra-slow-motion cameras in Sunday’s Super Bowl broadcast, reports Broadcasting & Cable. The Hi-Motion II cameras from NAC Image Technology allows for ultra-high-quality images (usually sacrificed in slo-mo), but at a 10X reduction in speed. 2X is more typical.
- ABC Family has ordered a new reality series, “Bevery Hills Nannies,” reports Entertainment Weekly. This docu-series will follow nannies who work in the 90210 area code. “Nannies” is produced by Evolution Media who are behind the “Real Housewives” Beverly Hills and Orange County franchises. ABC Family is home of “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” and racier shows like “Pretty Little Liars.” Time will tell if “Nannies” will approach the violence and hijinx typical of the “Housewives” properties.
- While the wound does not appear fatal, “American Idol” continues to bleed. “Idol” on Wednesday drew a 5.9 rating among adults 18-49, reports TVByTheNumbers. That is down 9% from a 6.5 rating the prior Wednesday, and 34% from its third Wednesday telecast in 2011.
8% Rise in Network Primetime CPMs, Analyst Predicts
Pivotal Research Group, a New York-based equity research firm, is projecting 8% in cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) in network primetime. Analyst Brian Wieser expects this to be a boon for those broadcasters. RBR.com quoted Wieser as saying he expects “These seemingly favorable price increases to positively impact sentiment around ad-supported media stocks including CBS, Comcast, Walt Disney and News Corp.” Cable networks (including Time Warner, Discovery and AMC) will likely enjoy a “halo” effect.
In last year’s upfront market, broadcasters ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC saw CPM prices increase by 9% reported paidContent, while cable networks jumped 12%. So this is good, and perhaps unexpected news for the networks. If Internet video has reached a tipping point (with announcements like original content from Netflix and Hulu), it “doesn’t appear to be coming at the expense of traditional TV,” suggests paidContent.
While that 8% is a very educated guess, it is an imprecise one; advertisers may surprise the networks at the negotiating table—chiefly by not showing up, or by putting their ad dollars online. In a worst-case scenario Wieser believes that the rise could be as low as 5%.
