DVR viewers push ad ratings up - USATODAY.com:
Among things the report revealed is that many DVR viewers do not fast-forward through ads. The viewer total for broadcast network ads goes up 32% when DVR watchers within three days are included, according to Nielsen.
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"After a six-month delay, The Nielsen Co. on Thursday released the commercial ratings data that has been much-awaited by ad and media companies.
The new data rates just the commercials in the show and also now includes viewing on the digital video recorders now found in 17% of U.S. homes.
The immediate impact of the data will be on ad price negotiations in the "upfront" in progress. It's the annual spring period in which TV networks sell the bulk of their ad time for the fall season.
In the past, network ad prices have been based on a show's traditional Nielsen rating, which counted how many people watched a show when it aired.
Nielsen's new commercial data include an average viewer total for all of a show's commercials when it airs, as well as averages for those who watch commercials on a DVR up to seven days later.
With billions of dollars in ad spending at stake — 2006 upfront sales were about $9 billion — networks want to make sure that every ad viewer is counted.
Likely to be the most-discussed tally in the upfront negotiations will be the "live-plus-three" data in today's report: commercial viewing for a show when its airs, plus up to three days later via a DVR. About 95% of all broadcast prime-time DVR viewing is done within three days of the live telecast, according to Nielsen.
Among things the report revealed is that many DVR viewers do not fast-forward through ads. The viewer total for broadcast network ads goes up 32% when DVR watchers within three days are included, according to Nielsen.
For some prime-time shows, it means that DVR viewing, long seen as a threat to advertising, could even bring higher ad prices. NBC's The Office, for example, had a "live-plus-three" Nielsen commercial rating of 3.36 — higher than the 3.11 it got for the week of May 6 under the traditional Nielsen program rating system."
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