[opendtv] Re: Bob, where are the tunerless monitors?

  • From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2007 00:12:33 -0400

At 12:36 PM -0700 7/17/07, johnwillkie wrote:

What I am saying is that households on cable get perhaps 60 channels.  They
spend around half their time watching 5-6 local TV stations, and about half
their time grazing amoung the other 50 or more choices.



And I am saying that this is wrong.
For several years now the average is about 40% of cable homes watching the broadcast networks DURING PRIME TIME, and this drops dramatically at the end of the television season. Take a look at the actual sahe numbers here: 

http://www.onetvworld.org/main/cab/research/0607WeeklyAudienceMeasures/index.shtml
During the May sweeps period total cable viewing was 11 share points higher than the combined audience for the broadacast networks (off-air and all multichannel) during prime time. The leade increased to a 22 point share spread when ALL day parts are averaged. 

Now look at the most recent week reported at this site:

Week 40 of the 2006/07 Season (6/18- 6/24/07)

http://www.onetvworld.org/main/cab/research/0607WeeklyAudienceMeasures/week-40-of-the-200607-sea.shtml
"In its fortieth week of the new season, Ad-Supported Cable captured 62.3% of total TV viewing - outpacing the Broadcast Seven by 33.8 share points." 

The lead was almost 20 share point during prime time.
Also not that the charts have a comparison with the same week in the 2006/2006 season. In every case the networks are down and cable is up. 



Here's another way to slice it.  Last time I checked, TV stations and
networks sold around $90 billion in TV time in a year.  Cable sold, that
same year, $4 billion.  If there was parity between cable and broadcast, you
would expect those numbers to be around $47 billion tv stations/networks and
$47 billion cable.  We're well shy of that.


Please provide a source for these numbers.
I think you will find that the total revenues for ALL broadcast (networks and stations) is closer to $40 billion. 

And take a look at these ad revenue stats for the first quarter of 2007:

http://www.onetvworld.org/main/cab/research/AdvertisingExpenditures/1q-3907-tv-market-share-f.shtml
Cable topped $4 billion out of a total of about $11.4 billion, which includes all syndicated programming as well. And note the percentage change column...
And if you have some spare time, read some of the trade press reports about the recent network up-fronts. Many are questioning the sanity of spot buyers who keep paying more and more for fewer and fewer eyeballs.
I will concede that the networks are able to charge a larger premium in terms of cost per thousand viewers. 



I won't address your home viewing situation, nor mine.  (I've seen about 10
hours of TV in the last three months.)  Those are anecdotes, and not
necessarily indicative of the big picture.
I may watch a few hours more than you do, but a good percentage of the time i spend in front of the TV, I am asleep. 

Regards
Craig


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