Debate Over Online Viewing Contribution To TV Ratings Continues

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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