Late night talker viewers keep watching tube during strike

Talk may be cheap in some parts of the country, but in Hollywood right now it is one of the most valuable commodities as the writers' strike enters its seventh week. The effects of the strike are most visible during the 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. timeslots as the late night talk shows rerun popular shows from the past.

A report from Integrated Media Measurement shows that viewers who are used to watching the late night talk shows can't unglue themselves from the television despite the lack of new content.

Before the strike, regular late night talk show viewers watched an average of 21.7 minutes of late night television. The average during the strike period remained statistically identical at an average of 20.8 minutes. The report also showed that while viewers watched almost the same amount of television, they used their remotes eight percent more, flipping around to watch a variety of programming including syndicated sitcoms, movies, sports and news. The wandering late night talk show viewers watched a broad range of show types and titles with no significant migration.

The IMMI data also revealed that regular late night talk show viewers did not pursue other activities, such as listening to radio, going to the movies, watching a DVD, reading a book or going to sleep.