Big Brother (or in this case little brother, since TiVo only makes up about 10% of the DVRs) is watching.   Several data tables below, and I scrolled right down to them.  On a glace it seems that TNT’s The Closer could be the best way to unify a partisan nation.

TIVO EXAMINES TV VIEWERSHIP BEHAVIOR BASED ON POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION USING ITS POWER||WATCH™ RATINGS SERVICE IN JULY

Highlights how True Targets^TM data affords advertisers a better understanding of television behavioral segments and can help significantly improve consumer targeting and ROI

No Republicans watched a second of Olbermann, No potential alternative fuel vehicle buyers watched a second of O’Reilly in July

ALVISO, Calif. — October 5, 2009 — TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services and advertising solutions for digital video recorders (DVRs), today highlighted how leveraging the combination of an opt-in panel with set-top-box viewing data, such as TiVo’s Power||Watch™ ratings service, can help provide the media industry with more precise information for reaching households that best match the target audience for specific marketing messages.

Using Republican and Democrat viewing behavior in July in one example, TiVo was able to pinpoint exactly which types of programs households affiliated with each party preferred to watch.  In another example, TiVo examined ratings data from July episodes of MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann and FOX News’ The O’Reilly Factor to identify which program appeals to certain household segments. Referred to by TiVo as True Targets™ data this information based on TiVo’s Power||Watch™ ratings service sample can help advertisers, advertising agencies, marketers, and television networks more effectively target the consumers they want to reach and better understand what is resonating with consumers.

“Over the last few months media agencies have committed billions of gross ratings points across broadcast and cable as part of the Upfronts and must now decide how to allocate these to brands most efficiently,”  said Todd Juenger, Vice President & General Manager, TiVo Audience Research & Measurement. “To achieve this and reach their target consumer more effectively, brand managers must have insight into households beyond simplistic age / sex demographics. Imagine you are a media planner charged with building a schedule starting in September to reach either Democrats or Republicans.  Targeting ‘A25-54’ is meaningless because it tells nothing about the kind of people you are trying to reach. True Targets™ data however can significantly inform your planning.”

Juenger continued, “For example, in the table below based on original episode airings during July CBS Morning News was the most-watched news program among Democratic households, with a total rating of 0.7. This was higher than the rating for the same program among households with ‘A18-49,’ which received 0.2. Knowing this difference in ratings enables advertisers to pay for 0.2 ratings points and actually reach 0.7 ratings points among their target audience.”

July – Most Watched News Programs: Republicans vs. Democrats

*Source: Power||Watch Data, July 2009

While other services attempt to provide this information, they are all based on self-reported viewing and small sample sizes.  Never before has there been this marriage of passively-observed viewing among a large sample size of opted-in, behaviorally segmented households.

“The efficiencies available from this data are astounding,” said Juenger.  “By re-allocating a media plan, an agency can reach far more of their True Targets™ audience for the same amount of media spend – or they can take out significant waste and reach the same amount of target audience for far fewer dollars. On the other side, a network can demonstrate delivery of an attractive audience composition and commercial audience viewership to advertisers, divorced from age/sex demographics. This targeting applies across all programming and can uncover crucial variations in television ratings from primetime shows to comedies.”

July – Most Watched Primetime Programs: Republicans vs. Democrats

*Source: Power||Watch Data, July 2009

Juenger added, “True Targets™ can also be used to dive deeper into the audience for a particular program.  For instance, while it’s no surprise that viewers of Olberman tend to be Democrat and viewers of O’Reilly tend to be Republican, the extent of that skew is remarkable.  In July, not a single Republican household in the Power||Watch™ ratings service sample watched even one second of Olbermann.  True Targets™ can be used for limitless other segments as well, for instance, among households planning to purchase an alternative fuel vehicle in next two years, not a single one of them in the sample watched even one second of O’Reilly.”

July – MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann vs. FOX News’ The O’Reilly Factor

*Source: Power||Watch Data, July 2009

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The Stop||Watch™ ratings service, introduced in February 2007, is offered via an easily sortable database of ratings for nationally run programs and advertisements from cable and broadcast networks, with data going back to September 2006.   The service now tracks ratings for 112 networks from 5:00am – 11:30pm.

TiVo’s Power||Watch™ ratings service provides advertisers access to second-by-second program and commercial ratings data, with demographic segmentations, for 35,000 households who have volunteered to take part in a “passive” consumer panel.  The Power||Watch™ ratings service provides subscribers the ability to look at TV viewing broken down by standard household demographics including income, geography, ethnicity, number of children and tenure of TiVo subscriber, among others. TiVo can associate household data with the viewership data then produce program and commercial viewership reports by aggregate demographic and behavioral audience groups. All reports prepared by TiVo using this data are anonymous.

TiVo Stop||Watch™ ratings service data is derived from a daily, aggregate, anonymous, stratified random sample of 250,000 TiVo subscribers – from which the second-by-second “clickstream” of behavior and viewership is collected and assessed.  The Stop||Watch™ ratings service includes data for: Total Viewing, Live Viewing, Timeshifted Viewing (less than 1 hour, 1-6 hours, 6-24 hours, 24-48 hours, 48-72 hours, 3-7 day, and 7-14 day delay and C3), Program Ratings, Commercial Ratings and a Commercial Viewership Index.  The Stop||Watch™ service uses ad occurrence data from TNS Media Intelligence to identify commercial spots.  For more information on the TiVo Stop||Watch™ ratings service, visit https://stopwatch.tivo.com.

About TiVo Inc.
Founded in 1997, TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO – News) developed the first commercially available digital video recorder (DVR).  TiVo offers the TiVo service and TiVo DVRs directly to consumers online at www.tivo.com and through third-party retailers.  TiVo also distributes its technology and services through solutions tailored for cable, satellite, and broadcasting companies. Since its founding, TiVo has evolved into the ultimate single solution media center by combining its patented DVR technologies and universal cable box capabilities with the ability to aggregate, search, and deliver millions of pieces of broadband, cable, and broadcast content directly to the television. An economical, one-stop-shop for in-home entertainment, TiVo’s intuitive functionality and ease of use puts viewers in control by enabling them to effortlessly navigate the best digital entertainment content available through one box, with one remote, and one user interface, delivering the most dynamic user experience on the market today.  TiVo also continues to weave itself into the fabric of the media industry by providing interactive advertising solutions and audience research and measurement ratings services to the television industry. www.tivo.com

TiVo, ‘TiVo, TV your way.’, Season Pass, WishList, TiVoToGo, Stop||Watch, Power||Watch, True Targets, and the TiVo Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of TiVo Inc. or its subsidiaries worldwide. © 2009 TiVo Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.