The Hills Has a 35.5% Increase and 1,029,000 DVR Viewers
For the week of May 5-11, 2008, MTVs The Hills was at its usual position as top cable time-shifted show with an increase of 35.5% over its Live audience in its Live+7 viewing audience and an absolute time-shifted audience size of 1,029,000.
Its broadcast rival Gossip Girl was also nearly the top % time-shifting gainer for broadcast shows in the same week. It seems that rich girls, whether real or fictional, are worth recording!
Top 20 Most Time-shifted (DVR viewed) Cable Shows:
| Rank | Programs | Network | Persons Live+7 (000s) | Persons Live (000s) | Time-shifted Audience (000s) | % increase from Live to Live+7 |
| 1 | THE HILLS | MTV | 3,929 | 2,900 | 1,029 | 35.5% |
| 2 | RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK | USA | 5,844 | 5,435 | 409 | 7.5% |
| 3 | ICARLY | NICK | 3,194 | 2,793 | 401 | 14.4% |
| 4 | WWE RAW | USA | 4,955 | 4,613 | 342 | 7.4% |
| 5 | INDIANA JONES & TEMPLE OF DOOM | USA | 4,577 | 4,274 | 303 | 7.1% |
| 6 | WWE RAW | USA | 4,750 | 4,458 | 292 | 6.6% |
| 7 | INDIANA JONES & TEMPLE OF DOOM | USA | 3,850 | 3,647 | 203 | 5.6% |
| 8 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | 4,275 | 4,084 | 191 | 4.7% |
| 9 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | 3,566 | 3,381 | 185 | 5.5% |
| 10 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | 3,955 | 3,770 | 185 | 4.9% |
| 11 | RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK | USA | 3,840 | 3,657 | 183 | 5.0% |
| 12 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | 3,733 | 3,557 | 176 | 4.9% |
| 13 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | 3,716 | 3,544 | 172 | 4.9% |
| 14 | MIGHTY B! | NICK | 3,647 | 3,490 | 157 | 4.5% |
| 15 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | 3,206 | 3,093 | 113 | 3.7% |
| 16 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | 3,203 | 3,098 | 105 | 3.4% |
| 17 | NBA-CONF SEMIS LAKERS/JAZZ | ESPN | 3,643 | 3,541 | 102 | 2.9% |
| 18 | MIGHTY B! | NICK | 3,294 | 3,194 | 100 | 3.1% |
| 19 | FAMILY GUY | ADSM | 3,027 | 2,928 | 99 | 3.4% |
| 20 | NBA CAVALIERS/CELTICS | TNT | 4,882 | 4,783 | 99 | 2.1% |
Filling out the top 10 were 3 Indiana Jones movies (with another at #11), as usual two episodes of WWE Raw, an iCarly, and 3 Spongebobs.
We’re seeing more and more sporting events in our top cable time-shifting list, and this week is no exception with two NBA Playoff games at #17 and #20.
We’re always comforted by the regular appearance of the yellow absorbent one, and Spongebob does not disappoint with 7 of the top 20.
Our time-shifting chart ranks which of the Top 40 cable shows 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). We include both the absolute size of the time-shifted audience (and sort the chart by that metric), and the % increase over the Live viewing.
Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2008 Nielsen Media Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Just a note: these #s represent actual viewing, not just recording.