No one really knows for sure what kind of impact online viewing has on TV ratings. With that in mind, here’s another burst of anecdotes along with some research-based estimates of the effect. Hard not to agree with Disney-ABC’s Albert Cheng, who tells TV Week a la Bob Iger that increasing availability only increases consumption: “You grow the overall pie. Many people feared cannibalization, but you get more people consuming.”
Viacom experimented with Dora’s cousin Diego, debuting a new show featuring the already familiar animated character on Nickelodeon’s broadband channel before going to cable. The show is now the network’s top-rated pre-school show; having watched the success of other Nick Jr. shows sans online exposure, I’m not convinced premiering online is the reason but the multi-platform approach can only have been a boost. Nickelodeon followed “Go, Diego, Go” with a multi-platform approach to its new slate.
The story also touches on the time shifting concept with a switch called “time poverty.” Kaan Yigit, an analyst with Solutions Research Group, explains: “If you cross acute time poverty with affluence in a 25 to 34 demo, you get cross-platform success.”
One last thought: the story mentions the failure of vintage NBCU shows to make the top iTunes downloand list. Wonder how much better they might do if they were priced lower than first-run shows.
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