As the TV industry reacts to a seismic shift in people’s viewing behavior ahead of next week’s broadcast Upfronts, media buying and strategy agency Optimedia US released Content Power Ratings 2.0, its proprietary media metrics system that goes beyond traditional audience ratings and evaluates TV program values using three criteria – total cross-platform audience (across television, the Web and mobile), involvement and advocacy.
“The industry’s metrics system has not kept pace with consumers’ rapidly changing viewing habits, preferences and the technology that enables it. Heading into the Upfronts, Content Power Ratings 2.0 allows us to better understand the total value that a program represents for advertisers and unearth surprise hits that deliver better value than their audience ratings would imply,” said Greg Kahn, SVP/head of Strategic Insights for Optimedia US.
Key findings of CPR 2.0 include:
— Fox’s American Idol continues to reign supreme as the top show across all three screens
— Sci-Fi shows, led by ABC’s Lost (#2), have a strong showing in this year’s rankings due to robust online streaming and appointment viewing
— Comedies, including NBC’s The Office (#3), make a comeback – comprising six of the top 20 CPR-ranked shows
— Politically-themed material around the election boosted CBS’s 60 Minutes (#15), NBC’s Saturday Night Live (#1 in late night), and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (#2 in late night)
— AMC’s Mad Men was the highest primetime show on cable
— New 2008 shows, Fringe (Fox) and The Mentalist (CBS), perform well across all platforms
— CW’s Gossip Girl (#19) and One Tree Hill (#37) rank nearly 100 places higher than their respective television ratings
Using data culled from the agency’s own primary research, as well as from Nielsen Media Research’s NTI database, Nielsen Online Video Census, Nielsen Mobile, comScore’s Media Metrix, E-Poll’s FastTrack Television, Google Trends, and Dow Jones Factiva, Optimedia’s Content Power Ratings value programs using three key criteria:
— Audience Delivery – including average audience impressions, visits to a program’s Web site, watching the program online and/or via mobile device
— Involvement – including index of Google search volume; awareness of program, and effort made to watch the show
— Advocacy – including press mentions, recommendations and general “buzz”
