Sci-Fi Shows Benefit Most from Time-Shifting
Wednesday December 24, 2008
Heroes was one of the programs benefiting most from DVR use in 2008.
© Adam Taylor/NBC
Heroes got the most gain in viewership of any show in 2008, according to Nielsen. The company compared the difference between ratings for the show when it's viewed in real time, and total ratings factoring in people who watched it within seven days of broadcast. The increase in viewership for Heroes was 35%.
Fringe and Lost were second and third, with 26% and 25%. After this come the dramas Bones, Grey's Anatomy, and House, followed by Survivor and two nights of American Idol.
Nielsen also looked at the data a couple more ways. When viewed by the absolute numeric difference in the number of households gained by time-shifting, rather than the percent different, both American Idol jumps to the top – not surprising given the sheer volume of viewers the show has – but Heroes, Lost, and Fringe are still 3, 4, and 5.
But most interesting is the list of shows ranked by "percent difference in rating" (rather than percent difference in viewership). On this list, Battlestar Galactica is far-and-away first, with a huge 53% jump in rating between live viewing and time-shifted viewing within 7 days. Also in the top 10 on this list are several other sci-fi programs, including Heroes and Sanctuary (tied for #3 at 35%), Eureka (34%), and Fringe (27%).
What does all this mean? In the past, great shows with small but loyal followings like Firefly and Jake 2.0 were quickly canceled because that kind of loyalty didn't show up in the weekly Nielsens. (Even last year, we lost shows with ardent fan bases like Journeyman, Moonlight, and New Amsterdam purely because of ratings.)
But in the DVR era, show loyalty counts – people are recording and watching, and that can be counted and measured. And no fan base backs up a show quite like us sci-fi and fantasy fans. Maybe – just maybe – this means that the next Firefly can be saved, if the bean-counters have new kinds of numbers to look at.
Comments
As a “Jake 2.0″ viewer who still feels that loss keenly, let’s hope “The Middleman” is the next “Firefly”, and lives on beyond its first season! Can’t think of a single new 2008 series that deserves it more.
Sc Fi channel should take a look at purchasing the rights to “Jericho” and continue where they left off from the last episode. Included in that, if they cancel “Life on Mars”, Sci Fi should take a chance on that as well. With all the cheaper, easier to produce reality garbage on the airwaves with the networks, good, thought provoking, well written shows deserve a place on tv. Some of us have more than two braincells to rub together and would enjoy watching characters and storylines develop on the channel where they belong. Journeyman, New Amsterdam, Firefly, the list goes on and on.
I agree, I have to record all my shows because I work nights. I can’t watch them during their normal show time. I have lost so many favs because of ratings. (firefly, moonlight, jericho, new amsterdam etc) I don’t think the Nelson ratings system is even close to knowing what people are watching.
Also being a baby boomer, the over 50 crowd, we aren’t even considered in ratings. I bet they would be surprised to know that we also love these shows. I watch Kyle XY, Supernatural and other sci fi type shows geared to the young. My friends and I use to watch Buffy, Angel, Sabrina and other 20’s something shows. So don’t count us out when it comes to surveys and what we watch.
The advertisors complain that recording the shows hurts their business, and that is probably true because I surely fast forward thru them. The main reason is because they show too many commercials and repeat the same ones over and over to a point of making me so fed up I promise myself I will NEVER buy their product.
Let’s bring back the old days where there is a commercial every 15 minutes (more show)and they only last a minute or 2. And while on that complaint, how about these networks stop doing pop ups in the middle of the show I am watching, why can’t I enjoy what I am viewing with out all that distraction? They not only block some scenery, but credits and take your eyes off the action whereas you miss what’s going on at a key moment. Networks are so greedy that they compress their credits to cram in more info on an upcoming show so they still have time to run their 10 commercials before the next show starts.
Do you know that there has been times that there were so many commercials I almost forgot what I was watching (senior moment) or got so frustrated I switched to a non commercial station.
One last thing before I go, (sorry long winded) How about the big networks having shows start at times like 8:59 or end at 9:03 so if you are recording them, you might miss part of it if you are recording a show that came on before it or due to come on after it and they are on different channels.
You know sometimes change is NOT for the better, lets bring back tv to where the show is longer then the commercials !
There are 18 minutes of commercials during a one hour drama!
If I go to Hulu it’s about 2 to 4 minutes. One or two 30 second commercials is much easier to watch than 4.5 minutes of commercials. LESS IS MORE!
And the incessant self promotion of the networks drive me nuts. I’m watching Sci-Fi, no shitake!
Cable providers puuuleeze stop advertising that the cable that I already subscribe to is great, STFU already. My friend doesn’t call me every frackin minute to let me know they are my friend you freaks. … Ok, I’ll relax, but they piss me off so much.
Non-premium Cable channels have smaller audiences and can’t survive without theses commercials. People who expect good programming but are not willing to pay for it somehow are the greedy ones. You either pay through a monthly premium charge or you pay by watching commercials.