The Ratings Impact of DVRs

Posted 11/10/2009 - 12:21pm by Julia M

Two years ago, Nielsen made significant changes in the way that it compiles its ratings information. The company started to measure commercial viewing, not program viewing. They factored DVR viewing into this by breaking down viewing into “Live” (watching a show the day of its broadcast) and then “Live + 1” (watching it the day after broadcast), “Live + 2,” etc. up to “Live + 6.” Generally, advertisers are only interested in the audience that watches a show within 3 days, meaning that the +4, +5 and +6 numbers are worthless.

So what’s the effect of the additional DVR (+ 3) viewing? The Big Four networks are showing a combined increase of 10%, with some shows gaining as much as 20% when the DVR viewing is factored in. Here’s a look at how much each network has gained on average when comparing their “Live” numbers to “Live +3” in the all-important 18-49 demographic:

Network Live Live+3

FOX 2,500,000 3,100,000

ABC 2,870,000 3,270,000

CBS 3,000,000 3,200,000

NBC 2,050,000 2,130,000

As you would expect, these increases vary widely from show to show. Here are some of the shows with the largest gains from “Live” to “Live +3”:

Show Live

House +18%

The Office +26%

Heroes +22%

Fringe +22%

Flash Forward +14%

Not every show has been helped by DVRs. NBC’s Jay Leno Show, which airs at 10PM every weeknight, has seen a decline in viewing when +3 viewing is factored in. This is because the number of people watching it “Live” on DVRs (and skipping the commercials as they do so) is greater than the number of people who watch over the next 3 days.

To see the full "Tech Trends" for the week of 11/09/09, click here.