Tuesday’s American Idol Has a Time-shifted Audience of 3.8 Million
With 3.80 million time-shifted (DVR) viewers, Tuesday’s American Idol had the largest absolute time-shifted audience in the week of January 21-27, followed by Wednesday’s American Idol with 3.54 million time-shifted viewers.
NBC had the most shows (10) out of the top 20 in absolute time-shifted audience size.
Top 20 Largest Time-shifted Audience Broadcast TV Shows:
| Rank | Programs | Network | Persons Live+7 (000) | Persons Live (000) | Timeshifed Audience (000s) | % Increase Over Live |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY | FOX | 30,553 | 26,758 | 3,795 | 14.2% |
| 2 | AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY | FOX | 28,382 | 24,838 | 3,544 | 14.3% |
| 3 | CRIMINAL MINDS | CBS | 13,911 | 11,805 | 2,106 | 17.8% |
| 4 | CHUCK 8P 1/24 | NBC | 7,985 | 6,114 | 1,871 | 30.6% |
| 5 | TERMINATOR: SRH CNR CHRON | FOX | 9,906 | 8,065 | 1,841 | 22.8% |
| 6 | LAW AND ORDER:SVU | NBC | 14,330 | 12,510 | 1,820 | 14.5% |
| 7 | MOMENT OF TRUTH | FOX | 23,651 | 21,946 | 1,705 | 7.8% |
| 8 | CHUCK 10P 1/24 | NBC | 7,849 | 6,207 | 1,642 | 26.5% |
| 9 | CSI: NY | CBS | 12,645 | 11,110 | 1,535 | 13.8% |
| 10 | LAS VEGAS | NBC | 7,721 | 6,256 | 1,465 | 23.4% |
| 11 | APPRENTICE 7 | NBC | 9,464 | 8,026 | 1,438 | 17.9% |
| 12 | MEDIUM | NBC | 10,975 | 9,558 | 1,417 | 14.8% |
| 13 | BOSTON LEGAL | ABC | 9,237 | 7,846 | 1,391 | 17.7% |
| 14 | UGLY BETTY | ABC | 9,741 | 8,376 | 1,365 | 16.3% |
| 15 | LAW AND ORDER | NBC | 11,410 | 10,070 | 1,340 | 13.3% |
| 16 | BIGGEST LOSER 5 | NBC | 9,404 | 8,179 | 1,225 | 15.0% |
| 17 | SHARK - 8PM SPECIAL | CBS | 11,590 | 10,374 | 1,216 | 11.7% |
| 18 | FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS | NBC | 5,941 | 4,793 | 1,148 | 24.0% |
| 19 | AMERICAN GLADIATORS | NBC | 10,481 | 9,333 | 1,148 | 12.3% |
| 20 | PRISON BREAK | FOX | 8,249 | 7,103 | 1,146 | 16.1% |
The Largest Time-shifting Audience table ranks which of the Top 150 broadcast shows [by Live+7 viewers] had the largest absolute number of time-shifted viewers on their digital video recorders (DVRs).
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Two Chucks Lead % Increase Via DVR Viewing
For the week of January 21-27, NBC’s Chuck had its audience increased by 30.6% over the 6.11 million that watched it Live giving it a Live+7 audience of 7.99 million, making it the leading broadcast show for % increase in viewing via DVR. A second Chuck had its audience increase by 26.5%.
Las Vegas, Friday Night Lights and Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles round out the largest % increase Top 5. NBC had the top for and the most time-shifted shows on a % basis with 8 of the 20.
Top 20 Most % Time-shifted Broadcast TV Shows:
| Rank | Programs | Network | Persons Live+7 (000) | Persons Live (000) | Timeshifed Audience (000s) | % Increase Over Live |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CHUCK 8P 1/24 | NBC | 7,985 | 6,114 | 1,871 | 30.6% |
| 2 | CHUCK 10P 1/24 | NBC | 7,849 | 6,207 | 1,642 | 26.5% |
| 3 | FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS | NBC | 5,941 | 4,793 | 1,148 | 24.0% |
| 4 | LAS VEGAS | NBC | 7,721 | 6,256 | 1,465 | 23.4% |
| 5 | TERMINATOR: SRH CNR CHRON | FOX | 9,906 | 8,065 | 1,841 | 22.8% |
| 6 | ONE TREE HILL | CW | 3,487 | 2,847 | 640 | 22.5% |
| 7 | CASHMERE MAFIA | ABC | 6,358 | 5,251 | 1,107 | 21.1% |
| 8 | OCTOBER ROAD SP-1/21 | ABC | 5,600 | 4,644 | 956 | 20.6% |
| 9 | CROWNED | CW | 1,518 | 1,274 | 244 | 19.2% |
| 10 | APPRENTICE 7 | NBC | 9,464 | 8,026 | 1,438 | 17.9% |
| 11 | CRIMINAL MINDS | CBS | 13,911 | 11,805 | 2,106 | 17.8% |
| 12 | BOSTON LEGAL | ABC | 9,237 | 7,846 | 1,391 | 17.7% |
| 13 | UGLY BETTY | ABC | 9,741 | 8,376 | 1,365 | 16.3% |
| 14 | PRISON BREAK | FOX | 8,249 | 7,103 | 1,146 | 16.1% |
| 15 | BIG SHOTS | ABC | 5,405 | 4,684 | 721 | 15.4% |
| 16 | BIGGEST LOSER 5 | NBC | 9,404 | 8,179 | 1,225 | 15.0% |
| 17 | MEDIUM | NBC | 10,975 | 9,558 | 1,417 | 14.8% |
| 18 | LAW AND ORDER:SVU | NBC | 14,330 | 12,510 | 1,820 | 14.5% |
| 19 | AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY | FOX | 28,382 | 24,838 | 3,544 | 14.3% |
| 20 | AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY | FOX | 30,553 | 26,758 | 3,795 | 14.2% |
The % Time-shifting table ranks which of the Top 150 broadcast shows [by Live+7 viewers] had the largest % increase in viewing between Live audience and Live+7 audience numbers from viewers watching shows later on their digital video recorders (DVRs).
Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2008 Nielsen Media Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
February 11th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
WOW !!! Percentage of increase in time-shifted, DVR veiwership. I'm not kidding… these are wonderful times we live in.
On a lighter note, CHUCK finishes one-two with FNL third on the % increase list. If I'm a network honcho, I'm really scratching my head as to how to interpret and what to do about these numbers.
February 11th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
I would say this makes these shows keepers.
February 11th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Jon, I think it's tough to pin down the reasons for time-shifting. Most of what I will now write is just an educated guess.
Some people time-shift everything they watch [me] and so unsurprisingly, the most popular shows have lots of timeshifters.
The high % time-shifted shows often fall into these categories:
1. Friday night – folks are out
2. Scheduled opposite popular shows – one is watched live, the less popular is DVR'd
3. Reality shows where folks don't want to watch the entire show, just quickly see what happened at the end.
4. Shows appealing to geeks [early adopters of technology]- they have a higher % of DVRs, so those shows get DVR'd more.
5. Shows appealing to high income [busy] people. Likely some overlap with 4, less time to watch anything live.
February 11th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Anon, that's much harder to know.
Since our data indicates that time-shifted show ads get consistently FF'd through, the value of time-shifted viewing is up to debate.
February 11th, 2008 at 11:59 am
WOW !!! Percentage of increase in time-shifted, DVR veiwership. I’m not kidding… these are wonderful times we live in.
On a lighter note, CHUCK finishes one-two with FNL third on the % increase list. If I’m a network honcho, I’m really scratching my head as to how to interpret and what to do about these numbers.
February 11th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I would say this makes these shows keepers.
February 11th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Jon, I think it’s tough to pin down the reasons for time-shifting. Most of what I will now write is just an educated guess.
Some people time-shift everything they watch [me] and so unsurprisingly, the most popular shows have lots of timeshifters.
The high % time-shifted shows often fall into these categories:
1. Friday night – folks are out
2. Scheduled opposite popular shows – one is watched live, the less popular is DVR’d
3. Reality shows where folks don’t want to watch the entire show, just quickly see what happened at the end.
4. Shows appealing to geeks [early adopters of technology]- they have a higher % of DVRs, so those shows get DVR’d more.
5. Shows appealing to high income [busy] people. Likely some overlap with 4, less time to watch anything live.
February 11th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Anon, that’s much harder to know.
Since our data indicates that time-shifted show ads get consistently FF’d through, the value of time-shifted viewing is up to debate.
February 11th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Those were new episodes of Chuck, not reruns.
February 11th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Ike, thanks, correction made.
February 11th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Those were new episodes of Chuck, not reruns.
February 11th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Ike, thanks, correction made.
February 11th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Do you think Nielsen will ever develop a Live+ Next day? I believe most of the DVR playback occurs within 24 hours from the original program airing. Shows on Friday would likely benefit since the next day is a Saturday and the average person might have the day off to catch up on DVR'd TV shows.
February 11th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Brian, I doubt it but we may get relatively close by comparing the LIVE+SD (same day DVR usage) #s with the live numbers.
But you're right about DVR playback mostly occuring early. Many shows have the biggest % of their DVR viewing happen the same night the show actually aired. The 8pm episode of Chuck above on 1/24 for example had 6.91 million LIVE+SD viewers vs. 6.11 live, so about 800,000 out of the 1.8 million DVR viewers watched sometime after 8pm and before 3am on Friday morning.
February 11th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
to add on to Bill's educated guess list, I would guess there are at least more than a handful of DVR owners who just don't want to watch commercials. they may time shift by 10-15 minutes just so they can fast forward through the commercials without having to wait.
February 11th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Take a show that is on 10pm on a friday night. Like Numb3rs or Las Vegas. They must have a very high DVR playback percentage for the next two days since they are on so late and on a Friday night. It's unfortunate because any DVR past 3am will not be calculated until the Live + 7 come out.
I am just hoping the networks, especially cable networks are truly looking at Live + 7 when it comes to that renewal decision for any show.
February 11th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Do you think Nielsen will ever develop a Live+ Next day? I believe most of the DVR playback occurs within 24 hours from the original program airing. Shows on Friday would likely benefit since the next day is a Saturday and the average person might have the day off to catch up on DVR’d TV shows.
February 11th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Brian, I doubt it but we may get relatively close by comparing the LIVE+SD (same day DVR usage) #s with the live numbers.
But you’re right about DVR playback mostly occuring early. Many shows have the biggest % of their DVR viewing happen the same night the show actually aired. The 8pm episode of Chuck above on 1/24 for example had 6.91 million LIVE+SD viewers vs. 6.11 live, so about 800,000 out of the 1.8 million DVR viewers watched sometime after 8pm and before 3am on Friday morning.
February 11th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
to add on to Bill’s educated guess list, I would guess there are at least more than a handful of DVR owners who just don’t want to watch commercials. they may time shift by 10-15 minutes just so they can fast forward through the commercials without having to wait.
February 11th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Take a show that is on 10pm on a friday night. Like Numb3rs or Las Vegas. They must have a very high DVR playback percentage for the next two days since they are on so late and on a Friday night. It’s unfortunate because any DVR past 3am will not be calculated until the Live + 7 come out.
I am just hoping the networks, especially cable networks are truly looking at Live + 7 when it comes to that renewal decision for any show.
February 11th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Brian, We're lead to believe that what really matters to advertisers (and then presumably networks) is the C+3 commercial rating, that measures the commercial viewing withing 3 days of broadcast.
In the one week that we saw publicly available data, the C+3 rating was very close to the Live rating.
February 11th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Welcome to the nightmare…
I'm a MF'n FF'er… but that does not mean I do not stop for an MF'n moment to watch a commercial that I have not seen and review it (mostly cute girls, G-Bless me). I had to post and then leave for awhile – and I'm glad I did – cuz the point was if I'm a network honcho (and, as we all knew, a sponsor), what do I do about these numbers.
My answer would be that I discount them to a certain % (just as the stock market has discounted financials because of their sub-prime exposure) and go from there. I guess we go back to that advertising mantra of sub-liminal (hyphenated on purpose to refer [back]to sub-prime) advertising whereby you catch a 'persons' attention for a split moment and go from there. (People should know that I consider myself a DVR genius and watch 2-3 programs and a replay while recording #4/5 at any given time).
I'm happy to have contributed to such a stirring debate and refer all to the original point of 'scratching my head' as a 'network honcho.'
February 11th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
In re-reading the above, it comes to my attention that some might get the feeling that I am a sponsor or 'net-hon'… I am not. I was just putting myself in their position and got carried away.
February 11th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Brian, We’re lead to believe that what really matters to advertisers (and then presumably networks) is the C+3 commercial rating, that measures the commercial viewing withing 3 days of broadcast.
In the one week that we saw publicly available data, the C+3 rating was very close to the Live rating.
February 11th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Welcome to the nightmare…
I’m a MF’n FF’er… but that does not mean I do not stop for an MF’n moment to watch a commercial that I have not seen and review it (mostly cute girls, G-Bless me). I had to post and then leave for awhile – and I’m glad I did – cuz the point was if I’m a network honcho (and, as we all knew, a sponsor), what do I do about these numbers.
My answer would be that I discount them to a certain % (just as the stock market has discounted financials because of their sub-prime exposure) and go from there. I guess we go back to that advertising mantra of sub-liminal (hyphenated on purpose to refer [back]to sub-prime) advertising whereby you catch a ‘persons’ attention for a split moment and go from there. (People should know that I consider myself a DVR genius and watch 2-3 programs and a replay while recording #4/5 at any given time).
I’m happy to have contributed to such a stirring debate and refer all to the original point of ’scratching my head’ as a ‘network honcho.’
February 11th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
In re-reading the above, it comes to my attention that some might get the feeling that I am a sponsor or ‘net-hon’… I am not. I was just putting myself in their position and got carried away.
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Have the Time Shifted numbers come out for the week of Jan 28 – Feb 3?
If not, do we know when Nielsen will release them?
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:43 pm
TV-aholic, they have come out but that is in Bill G's bag o' tricks and he is on vacation with his family. He'll be back soon. If there was a specific show you want LIVE+7 info on, e-mail me, but if you want the info for multiple shows, wait until ~Monday and it should be up (along with the week of 2/4-2/10).
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Have the Time Shifted numbers come out for the week of Jan 28 – Feb 3?
If not, do we know when Nielsen will release them?
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Just wondering the Live +7 numbers for LOST Premiere on Jan 31st.
THANKS!!!
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:43 pm
TV-aholic, they have come out but that is in Bill G’s bag o’ tricks and he is on vacation with his family. He’ll be back soon. If there was a specific show you want LIVE+7 info on, e-mail me, but if you want the info for multiple shows, wait until ~Monday and it should be up (along with the week of 2/4-2/10).
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Just wondering the Live +7 numbers for LOST Premiere on Jan 31st.
THANKS!!!
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Lost had 17.77m LIVE+7 for the Jan 31 season premiere. LIVE+SD was 16.14m
February 22nd, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Lost had 17.77m LIVE+7 for the Jan 31 season premiere. LIVE+SD was 16.14m
February 23rd, 2008 at 5:36 am
Hi, I had a question. What were the numbers for Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles for Feb 4th. Or do those numbers come out in 2 weeks?
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:36 am
Hi, I had a question. What were the numbers for Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles for Feb 4th. Or do those numbers come out in 2 weeks?
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:48 am
Tony, the live+7 for 2/4 won't be available until this coming Monday (2/25). But the LIVE+SD for Terminator: TSCC for 2/4 was 8.82m
February 23rd, 2008 at 5:48 am
Tony, the live+7 for 2/4 won’t be available until this coming Monday (2/25). But the LIVE+SD for Terminator: TSCC for 2/4 was 8.82m
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:08 am
Where are February's time-shifted ratings ?
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:09 am
Oops, sorry, you already answered that….my bad………have not had my coffee yet
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:08 am
Where are February’s time-shifted ratings ?
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:09 am
Oops, sorry, you already answered that….my bad………have not had my coffee yet