
Premiere week (September 21-27) DVR viewing numbers are in and Dollhouse had the largest % increase in both 18-49 rating and average viewership. Will that save the show or is it already too late?
One trend that’s immediately obvious this season is that the network PR departments are completely behind the touting of DVR numbers, whether they matter to their bottom line or not!
For those who have followed DVR viewing in the past, there aren’t a whole lot of surprises in the the week’s numbers. Show’s targeted at younger viewers tend to be more viewed by DVR (CW shows, many Fox shows, and some NBC shows). CBS and ABC shows are not DVR viewed in nearly the same % as the competition’s. I’ll do some more analysis on days and timeslots in the future.
And as has always been the case, shows with big absolute viewership numbers have big absolute DVR viewership numbers.
Because of emerging practices in the TV media, and our access to the relevant data, we’re making a pretty fundamental change in the way we present DVR data. Up until now, we used the show’s Live program rating or viewership as the base upon which the Live+7 day DVR viewing was added. Now, the press seems to be standardizing around using Live+Same Day DVR viewing as the base for the calculations, plus our access to Live ratings is somewhat erratic and restricted. While there are both positive and negative aspects to basing increases on Live+SD, after discussion, Robert and I decided to make the change.
Note that the first two table below contains adults 18-49 demo program ratings, and the other two contain average viewership data.
To see previous weeks most DVR’d TV Shows lists click here.
Those of you interested in DVR viewing numbers might enjoy:
When Do DVR’d Shows Get Watched? Same Night or After?
Doing My Part To Combat DVR Misinformation
Largest 18-49 Demo Increase From DVR Viewing for Broadcast TV Shows (Sept 21-27):
| Rank | Programs | Net | 18-49 Live+SD (rating) | 18-49 Live+7 (rating) | Post Airdate Increase from DVR Viewing | % of All Viewing By DVR Post Airdate |
| 1 | SMALLVILLE | CW | 1.00 | 1.50 | 50% | 33% |
| 2 | DOLLHOUSE | FOX | 1.00 | 1.50 | 50% | 33% |
| 3 | 90210 | CW | 1.00 | 1.40 | 40% | 29% |
| 4 | FRINGE | FOX | 2.30 | 3.20 | 39% | 28% |
| 5 | MELROSE PLACE | CW | 0.80 | 1.10 | 38% | 27% |
| 6 | GOSSIP GIRL | CW | 1.10 | 1.50 | 36% | 27% |
| 7 | LAW AND ORDER | NBC | 1.20 | 1.60 | 33% | 25% |
| 8 | HEROES | NBC | 2.80 | 3.70 | 32% | 24% |
| 9 | BONES | FOX | 2.80 | 3.60 | 29% | 22% |
| 10 | THE MENTALIST | CBS | 3.60 | 4.60 | 28% | 22% |
| 11 | NUMB3RS | CBS | 1.80 | 2.30 | 28% | 22% |
| 12 | CASTLE | ABC | 2.30 | 2.90 | 26% | 21% |
| 13 | GLEE | FOX | 3.10 | 3.90 | 26% | 21% |
| 14 | OFFICE | NBC | 3.90 | 4.90 | 26% | 20% |
| 15 | COMMUNITY | NBC | 2.80 | 3.50 | 25% | 20% |
| 16 | SUPERNATURAL | CW | 1.20 | 1.50 | 25% | 20% |
| 17 | CSI | CBS | 4.10 | 5.10 | 24% | 20% |
| 18 | VAMPIRE DIARIES | CW | 1.70 | 2.10 | 24% | 19% |
| 19 | AMERICA’S TOP MODEL 7 | CW | 1.30 | 1.60 | 23% | 19% |
| 20 | GREY’S ANATOMY | ABC | 6.70 | 8.20 | 22% | 18% |
| 21 | PARKS AND RECREATION | NBC | 1.80 | 2.20 | 22% | 18% |
| 22 | HOUSE | FOX | 6.80 | 8.20 | 21% | 17% |
| 23 | SO YOU THINK CN DANCE-WED | FOX | 2.50 | 3.00 | 20% | 17% |
| 24 | FLASHFORWARD | ABC | 4.10 | 4.90 | 20% | 16% |
| 25 | HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER | CBS | 3.60 | 4.30 | 19% | 16% |
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The 18-49 Demo Increase From DVR Viewing ranks which of the top broadcast shows [by Live+7 viewers] had the largest % of increase in viewing by DVR in their adults 18-49 Live+7 audience numbers from viewers watching shows after the airdate on their digital video recorders (DVRs).
Largest DVR Audiences for Broadcast TV Shows (Sept 21-27):
| Rank | Programs | Net | Persons Live+SD (000s) | Persons Live+7 (000s) | DVR Viewers Past Airdate (000s) | % of All Viewing By DVR Past Airdate |
| 1 | GREY’S ANATOMY | ABC | 17,061 | 20,029 | 2,968 | 14.8% |
| 2 | MENTALIST, THE | CBS | 15,089 | 18,040 | 2,951 | 16.4% |
| 3 | HOUSE | FOX | 17,268 | 20,148 | 2,880 | 14.3% |
| 4 | CSI | CBS | 16,039 | 18,258 | 2,219 | 12.2% |
| 5 | FLASHFORWARD | ABC | 12,502 | 14,469 | 1,967 | 13.6% |
| 6 | FRINGE | FOX | 5,766 | 7,733 | 1,967 | 25.4% |
| 7 | NCIS | CBS | 20,612 | 22,537 | 1,925 | 8.5% |
| 8 | CRIMINAL MINDS | CBS | 15,852 | 17,760 | 1,908 | 10.7% |
| 9 | CSI: MIAMI | CBS | 14,223 | 16,122 | 1,899 | 11.8% |
| 10 | BONES | FOX | 9,150 | 11,016 | 1,866 | 16.9% |
| 11 | BIG BANG THEORY, THE | CBS | 12,976 | 14,810 | 1,834 | 12.4% |
| 12 | NCIS: LOS ANGELES | CBS | 18,750 | 20,526 | 1,776 | 8.7% |
| 13 | TWO AND A HALF MEN | CBS | 13,639 | 15,386 | 1,747 | 11.4% |
| 14 | OFFICE | NBC | 7,479 | 9,182 | 1,703 | 18.5% |
| 15 | DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES | ABC | 13,646 | 15,303 | 1,657 | 10.8% |
| 16 | HEROES | NBC | 6,107 | 7,725 | 1,618 | 20.9% |
| 17 | GLEE | FOX | 6,649 | 8,255 | 1,606 | 19.5% |
| 18 | GOOD WIFE, THE | CBS | 13,867 | 15,390 | 1,523 | 9.9% |
| 19 | NUMB3RS | CBS | 8,105 | 9,610 | 1,505 | 15.7% |
| 20 | CASTLE | ABC | 9,269 | 10,747 | 1,478 | 13.8% |
| 21 | CSI: NY | CBS | 15,067 | 16,466 | 1,399 | 8.5% |
| 22 | LAW AND ORDER:SVU | NBC | 8,390 | 9,787 | 1,397 | 14.3% |
| 23 | FORGOTTEN, THE | ABC | 9,544 | 10,806 | 1,262 | 11.7% |
| 24 | GHOST WHISPERER | CBS | 8,760 | 9,941 | 1,181 | 11.9% |
| 25 | COMMUNITY | NBC | 5,423 | 6,560 | 1,137 | 17.3% |
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The Largest DVR Audiences ranks which of the top broadcast shows [by Live+7 viewers] had the largest number average viewers by DVR in their Live+7 audience numbers from viewers watching shows after the airdate on their digital video recorders (DVRs).
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Greatest % Of DVR Viewing for Broadcast TV Shows (Sept 21-27):
| Rank | Programs | Net | Persons Live+SD (000s) | Persons Live+7 (000s) | DVR Viewers Past Airdate (000s) | % of All Viewing By DVR Past Airdate |
| 1 | DOLLHOUSE | FOX | 2,503 | 3,417 | 914 | 26.7% |
| 2 | FRINGE | FOX | 5,766 | 7,733 | 1,967 | 25.4% |
| 3 | MELROSE PLACE | CW | 1,438 | 1,902 | 464 | 24.4% |
| 4 | SMALLVILLE | CW | 2,576 | 3,389 | 813 | 24.0% |
| 5 | 90210 | CW | 1,995 | 2,617 | 622 | 23.8% |
| 6 | GOSSIP GIRL-MON | CW | 1,979 | 2,581 | 602 | 23.3% |
| 7 | HEROES | NBC | 6,107 | 7,725 | 1,618 | 20.9% |
| 8 | GLEE | FOX | 6,649 | 8,255 | 1,606 | 19.5% |
| 9 | OFFICE | NBC | 7,479 | 9,182 | 1,703 | 18.5% |
| 10 | SUPERNATURAL | CW | 2,664 | 3,270 | 606 | 18.5% |
| 11 | COMMUNITY | NBC | 5,423 | 6,560 | 1,137 | 17.3% |
| 12 | VAMPIRE DIARIES | CW | 3,806 | 4,602 | 796 | 17.3% |
| 13 | BONES | FOX | 9,150 | 11,016 | 1,866 | 16.9% |
| 14 | MENTALIST, THE | CBS | 15,089 | 18,040 | 2,951 | 16.4% |
| 15 | SO YOU THINK CN DANCE-WED | FOX | 5,510 | 6,552 | 1,042 | 15.9% |
| 16 | NUMB3RS | CBS | 8,105 | 9,610 | 1,505 | 15.7% |
| 17 | GREY’S ANATOMY | ABC | 17,061 | 20,029 | 2,968 | 14.8% |
| 18 | PARKS AND RECREATION | NBC | 4,090 | 4,799 | 709 | 14.8% |
| 19 | HOUSE | FOX | 17,268 | 20,148 | 2,880 | 14.3% |
| 20 | LAW AND ORDER:SVU | NBC | 8,390 | 9,787 | 1,397 | 14.3% |
| 21 | AMERICA’S TOP MODEL 7 | CW | 2,826 | 3,287 | 461 | 14.0% |
| 22 | HELL’S KITCHEN | FOX | 6,778 | 7,877 | 1,099 | 14.0% |
| 23 | BEAUTIFUL LIFE | CW | 1,047 | 1,214 | 167 | 13.8% |
| 24 | LAW AND ORDER | NBC | 6,271 | 7,271 | 1,000 | 13.8% |
| 25 | CASTLE | ABC | 9,269 | 10,747 | 1,478 | 13.8% |
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The % of Total viewing by DVR table ranks which of the top broadcast shows [by Live+7 viewers] had the largest % of viewing by DVR in their Live+7 audience numbers from viewers watching shows after the airdate on their digital video recorders (DVRs).
Definitions:
DVR (Time-shifted) Viewing – Program ratings for national sources are produced in three streams of data –Live, Live+Same Day (Live+SD) and Live+7 Day. Time shifted figures account for incremental viewing that takes place with DVRs. Live+Same Day(Live+SD) include viewing during the same broadcast day as the original telecast, with a cut-off of 3:00AM local time when meters transmit daily viewing to Nielsen for processing. Live+7 Day ratings include incremental viewing that takes place during the 7 days following a telecast.
DVR Viewers Past Airdate - How many people watched the show on their DVRs within 7 days following the airdate
% of All Viewing By DVR Past Airdate - Of the total viewing of that particular episode, what percentage was done via DVR.
Nielsen TV Ratings Data:©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.

this made me happy. but then i remembered this post: http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/10/03/say-goodbye-to-dollhouse-part-ii-the-dvr-numbers-wont-matter/29390
do DVR numbers really not mean much except for good PR?
Wish I could say hopefull but I am sticking to we’ll see. I just hope we at least get all 13 episodes … oh hang on there’s the hope …….
it’s also worth noting that Brothers, Dollhouse’s lead in, got a 0% increase in DVR.
@ grr_argh
WELL spotted man. You are absolutely right. it just goes to show what a horrendous lead-in it has been to dollhouse.
YAY!! Smallville …now where is my “Smallville is awesome” DVR gloating Press Release CW? they dod one everytime Vampire Diaries farts, so I demand one NOW
Nice gains for Smallville!
At least Dollhouse has a lead in. Smallville on the other hand is all by itself. Stupid CW!
I already posted this question in another thread, but it really does belong here: how much of an impact will DVR ratings have on Dollhouse’s fate? If a rerun of House brings in a larger audience than Whedon’s show, why would Fox stick with the latter? Dollhouse may end up with higher DVR numbers, but how many of those viewers will bother watching the commercials? Those watching House live won’t have that option. Isn’t that scenario more appealing to advertisers?
Could you post the new Broadcast Top 25 Lists that result out of these DVR numbers?
All DVR proves is that people didn’t care enough to put aside some time, and sit through the commercials.
If people were willing to pay to see Dollhouse, that would mean something.
But please note, the DVD sales for S1 were almost as bad as the ratings.
Any Good News is Good!
And really, as long as Dollhouse continues to be produced, then that’s all that the fans (and the haters) can ask for.
Congrats to Smallville fans too.
Is it fair to summarize the situation as such:
Dollhouse, even with Live+7 numbers, is still the worst non-Friday performer on Fox? Is still the worst non-Friday, non-CW show in primetime?
Dollhouse is a new kind of show, one that may be able to continue based on different vectors. (Online, DVD, international and Live Ratings)
Sure, it doesn’t do a lot of business on Live TV, but if the DVR numbers stay strong, and it upticks a bit (again, from ep4 on it rocks) it could stay.
The larger News Corp. view could be: okay, with Live, DVR, online, international, we have a fan base of (x) million people. FOX Broadcasting breaks even, 20th makes out overseas, and maybe the DVD fills out nicely over the next few years. If the show can continue at a good price point (lower budget), it could be a profitable brand for the corporation over the long run.
Some would call it low hanging fruit, I would call it a good investment in genre programming that keeps the FOX brand young and on the edge.
@ pisher
Or perhaps just perhaps, people go out on a friday night making it a lousy night to put any shows on. It has nothing to do with commercials
Exactly Ali. The whole landscape of viewing is changing dramatically, especially with the younger viewers. Id say Dollhouse and Smallville target a fair share of young viewers who find other ways of watching it especially because they are the least likely demo to stay in on Fridays to watch tv.
It looks like Castle did pretty well for ABC via DVR.
It was the ABC show with the largest 18-49 demo increase and the 4th largest DVR audience.
Perhaps that might help to keep it from being canceled?
“All DVR proves is that people didn’t care enough to put aside some time, and sit through the commercials.”
On a Friday night at 9? Are you serious?
No Live viewer numbers this time around?
Tom, here are the bottom 10 (with the worst at the very bottom) when it came to Live+7 18-49 ratings:
DOLLHOUSE-09/25/2009
GOSSIP GIRL-MON-09/21/2009
SUPERNATURAL-09/24/2009
COPS-09/26/2009
48 HOURS MYSTERY-09/26/2009
90210-09/22/2009
ONE TREE HILL-MON-09/21/2009
MELROSE PLACE-09/22/2009
BROTHERS-09/25/2009
BEAUTIFUL LIFE-09/23/2009
edit: technically with the level of detail we’ve seen so far (rounded to 10th of ratings point) Dollhouse, Gossip Girl, Supernatural, Cops, and 48 Hours Mystery all were tied.
Hooray for Smallville!!
If that’s 18-49 numbers after dvr where live numbers… HUge!
But is not, so the shows are all having lame numbers! to shame! dam dvr! LOL
I’m really liking those Fringe DVR numbers. We can blame its live performance on the timeslot.
The thing that jumps out at me is that House’s Live+SD is 6.8 and Grey’s is 6.7. I thought that they were both 6.7?
What I take from that is the young audience clearly do not like watching things live an they probably do not like watching the adverts. There figures only to get higher as time pasts. I wonder how the tv networks will be funded when the majority of viewing is done non live.
Demographically, it’s always going to be shows like these which see a large percentage of their potential live viewership watching via DVR or online instead.
I think FOX realizes that they need to find ways to effectively monetize these viewers. While the so-called “nerds” may be the first to strongly adopt alternate methods of viewership, the rest of the population will follow in time. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons they renewed Dollhouse, in fact–as an experiment in trying to make money off non-live viewership.
Eventually, it won’t just be Dollhouse splitting off a third of its viewers–it’ll be every show on TV. If FOX and others can’t figure out a way to make that work, they’re going to be in trouble.
Perhaps they realize that it’s not just about the bottom line now, but also the bottom line five years from now. Dollhouse itself may not figure into that picture, but perhaps methods of monetizing online and DVR viewing learned from its stint on the air will.
Actually, let’s cut to the chase:
Dollhouse gets 1.5 Live+SD. Other Fox Friday shows (House repeats, Kitchen) did what there?
A bit of information concerning Directv HDDVRs, the last software update changed the way a fast forwarded program is viewed, before this update the jump ahead feature would jump for 30 seconds with the video not being seen, now you see the video as it flashes by. This will mean a commercial you are familiar with before, and you will be reminded again. My Tivo has always let you seen the fast forwarded video but Directv just jumped with a blank screen. What this means to me is the advertiser WILL GET some benefit from the ads even if fast forwarded. This should raise the value DVRed shows for the networks. Just a thought but it is important to me because I will actually SEE the commercial but just rather quickly, so I am no longer a freeloader but a paying customer (having paid by watching the ad).
christian may be on to something. Is sports and news the future of broadcast TV, with scripted entertainment being a pay per view affair? In the meantime Fox should still cancel Dollhouse and let Whedon work on a worthy project.
To those crowing about Fringe’s Live+7, here’s what they looked like for the week of April 6-12. (I know they had a better lead-in, but not all of the audience has returned, or even close.)
Rank, Show, Network, Live, Live+SD, Live+7, % increase, % DVR viewing, % DVR viewing on airdate
20 FRINGE FOX 3.30 3.99 4.68 42% 29% 50%
That 4.68 Live+7 18-49 rating means that 32% of the audience has not returned to Fringe even with DVR. (Trying to find other dates but the search function is difficult.
)
Wow, Heroes went up to a 3.7 from a 2.8? Impressive. To bad this is not actually worth anything.
All of Whedon’s shows have been a source of income on media sales for years after original airing. The good thing is the writers knew this could be it and I’m betting they’re going to end the show on a satisfactory note so that it makes for a rounded DVD/BluRay viewing experience down the line, if they’re allowed to finish and show all 13 episodes, which is all I’m hoping for.
@Julia,
TVaholic at pifeedback.com keeps track of the (available) DVR ratings in the ratings trend threads for each show. He has quite a few for Fringe.
http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/155106451/m/715104951/p/3
SO IF SMALLVILEE SAFE OR NOT I HOPE SO!
Thanks, Holly. I was looking for demo ratings and it looks like he’s only got the same date that I found for Live+7 demo.
This increase seems good enough to keep it around until at least its October 30th airing, but not to save the series from its ultimate cancellation.
That’s probably the only week that the demo increase was reported.
@Christine, I bet Smallville will get their final season 10. What else does the CW have to put on Friday and do this well (for the CW that is). It’s a proven money maker in DVD sales, it’s doing well on itunes & amazon downloads.
They’ve got Welling signed, producers are on record saying they want a 10. Unless something drastic happens between now and the spring, I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t happen.
Robert, are this goood news for Heroes?
The one area I can see the networks seeing DVR +7 figures very seriously indeed is judging whether a show would do better if it was up against poorer competition for the same audience. But as they’re not going to move Dollhouse, and as there isn’t much chance that those shows currently running against Dollhouse are going to change, then that might not make any difference in this case.
But, y’know, I’d still like Fox to take high DVR figures as a reason to keep going with Dollhouse.
Wow, House and Grey’s are monsters. Grey’s actually pulled itself up into a tie with House given DVR #’s.
j, and in their 18-49 Live + 7 ratings, House and Grey’s tied with identical 8.2 ratings.
Third place was Sunday Night Football that week with a 6.8.
I can’t help but notice that many of these highly DVR’d shows are on either Thursday night (I think everyone agrees this is by far the night crowded with the most quality programming) or Friday night (where a large portion of the 18-49 demographic is out). While high DVRs may not improve a show’s ad sales, they might suggest that cancelling the show may not improve a network’s ratings since potential viewers are already locked into some other show or activity at that timeslot.
The other thing to consider is that a show that has high DVR #s may be a good candidate to consider moving. Fringe has a strong enough viewer base to give it a 3.2 Live+7. It could obviously get better numbers in a less brutal timeslot. So does Fox move it, or keep it where it is, knowing that many of their shows would do worse here and just not hold the low 2’s it is getting now against it come decision time? ABC might consider moving Castle, as it seems people are largely choosing to watch CBS’s competing cop drama live and Castle later. I think Eastwick would have been a better demographic fit for Dancing With the Stars (but it is probably too late to save Eastwick now).
Of course, I’m talking about shows with marginal Live+SD, but much better Live+7 numbers here. There is no reason a network should keep a show with a poor Live+7 number just because a lot of it’s viewers watched it later (sorry, Dollhouse).
Royal K, I’ll do something later in the week on the who, what, when of DVR viewing. I will get more data between now and then that will allow me to see some additional things.
Bill, what about Desperate housewives 18-49 rating? Surly it MUST have increased from the 4.7 live+sd rating to like a 5.0?
Any data?
Housewives increased to a 5.4 Live+7 rating for adults 18-49.
Thank you!!!
Soy fan de smallville y por lo que leo es algo bueno, pero no entiendo. Alguien puede explicarme.
I doubt DVR will save Dollhouse this time …
Smallville seems to have carried its dvr audience to Fridays, plus abit more.
Didn’t SV average about 760,000 the first part of last Season?
~ Way to go Smallville! CW should be happy with these stats., I am!
FUTILE!
What kind of ratings boost has Medium been getting from DVR usage? Anything?
Medium’s viewership increase from Live+SD to Live+7 was about 11%, which for this week was middle-ish for broadcast primetime shows overall, but low-ish for scripted shows.
Oh sorry Bill, could you answer my question please? Are this good news for Heroes?
I like the way you have this set up this year. Seems intuitive that the actual numbers of viewers increased doesn’t make much difference for shows where its a small percent of the total viewers unless it also indicates a jump in the demo.
Did it change the ranking in the 9 o’clock hour on Thursday between Grey’s and CSI? Are the genre shows Fringe and Supernatural hurting each other in DVR #’s as well as live viewing.
I can see the DVR numbers making a difference to the CW — because all their shows get significant % increases. But I can’t see it mattering to Fox if Dollhouse gets a significant % increase when the actual numbers are still low compared to their other shows. But it might make a difference between say Lie To Me and Fringe where a relative bump might be a factor if FOX was picking between them.
Good to see SV doing well!
You know, those DVR numbers for Fringe and Dollhouse look awfully similar to last year’s. I’m not talking about percent viewers, I’m talking about raw audience gain. Dollhouse, each week, would gain about 900k – 1 million viewers in Live + 7 ratings. Same with Fringe I believe. That, I think, is the number that matters most here, not the “percent gain” from DVR. That number is so high because the viewership is so low to begin with.
See, if Dollhouse was at it’s Season 1 average of 1.4/1.5, it would have an 18-49 rating of 1.9-2.0, which I think FOX is perfectly happy with on a Friday night. But not a 1.5. That’s different.
This really doesn’t mean much. And if Dollhouse supposedly has all these “hidden” viewers, where were they when the show came out on DVD? Not waiting to buy a copy!
Plus, a 1.5 demo still sucks.
I DVR Smallville AND watch it live, then I watch it several more times throughout the season. Then I buy the season DVDs. I’m also over the sacred age frame of 18-49. What does that say about Smallville fans and the TV numbers rating game? I think it’s well on its way to becoming a cult classic, and I hope for many more hours of viewing pleasure in Tom Welling’s company.
Is there any data showing Smallville’s W18-34 and W18-49 demo increase with DVR usage added?
james, almost certainly the networks and other paying Nielsen customers have gender group DVR numbers, but we do not. We should see additional age group DVR info later this week.
It simply blows my mind that the CW would let out a press release praising all their shows DVR numbers and not include Smallville!
I think DVR WILL help…why have DVR numbers and data if they don’t even count? Pointless much? Anyone can prove me wrong but I am sticking to believing that DVR does count at least a little…I’ll only be convinced if they cancel DH.
Anil, the reason is that these Live+7 numbers don’t measure commercial viewing, the C+3 commercial ratings do. And what we have seen in the past is that C+3 commercial ratings get little if any increase from DVR viewing.
@Tom
“Is it fair to summarize the situation as such:
Dollhouse, even with Live+7 numbers, is still the worst non-Friday performer on Fox? Is still the worst non-Friday, non-CW show in primetime?”
…. Huh? It IS a Friday show.
Julia: That 4.68 Live+7 18-49 rating means that 32% of the audience has not returned to Fringe even with DVR.
No, it doesn’t. You’re completely ignoring online and downloads, which has probably been bumped up significantly due to the demanding timeslot as well.
but online is so marginal that it doesnt factor, and downloads mean absolutley nothing.
Keeping Dollhouse depends on it growing viewers with better promotion and on how bad Fox wants new scripted programming on fridays.
Blue Sunflower: sorry, Julia meant that 32% of the audience FOX could actually potentially make money on didn’t return.
Josh, the downloads from paid sources like iTunes and Amazon don’t mean absolutely nothing, though they probably mean very little to nothing for FOX since Fringe is a Warner Brothers production.
YAY SMALlVILLE!
Buenas noticias para Smallville debido a un aumento de espectadores en el (DVR) vídeo de digital
FUTILE.
Those numbers mean nothing. People skip commercials when they DVR shows. No commercial, no money.
This is all useless, nobody watches those shows. Those numbers mean absolutely nothing.
Off Topic:
KILL CASTIEL!
Do we know what the Cold Case stats are for DVRS?
You can pen this in now, Dollhouse will get a season 3 , because of its unique role in the way a new generation of people are watching television. Summer Glau will not be a regular so they will have to devise a way to kill her character. Scripts are being reviewed.
LOL
I was going to say (but then multiple people said it) I’m not sure where people are getting that Dollhouse and other Friday shows are getting DVR’d because people want to skip the commercials. They’re DVR’d because unless you have a family at home, why would you want to spend the night at home watching TV? It’s Friday night!
And if advertisers don’t like that people are skipping commercials, they could always stream them on the bottom. They may have to end up doing that anyway. As people have said, DVR is not going away.
First off, thanks so much for posting all of the shows! Every place I go to just posts the first couple of shows on the list, so if you’re show isn’t on the list, you’re SOL :-/ thank goodness my friend recently sent me a link to this site!
Second, I am not very knowledgeable about this kind of thing, but with my favorite show slipping in the ratings this season, I want to know if this is good news for “Supernatural” that they did go up? How are their chances looking for a fifth season?
Thanks
Chances are looking great for a fifth season, considering they are airing it now.
YEAHH SMALLVILLE YOU GO!
“Chances are looking great for a fifth season, considering they are airing it now.”
Oy. DUH! LOL, I meant sixth season! How’s it looking for a sixth season?
What about online viewing? It has to count for something, there are commercials in it.
All i got to say is YEA FOR SMALLVILLE!!!! AND WOO HOO FOR CASTLE IT MADE THE TOP 25 FOR ALL 3!!!
This is probably a stupid question but I’m going to ask anyway.
If these numbers don’t mean anything why are they keeping track of them?
It’s interesting to me and I love the data so I’m thankful it’s posted for us to see. I’m just wondering why they keep track of such data if it’s not going to save a show that’s maybe on the bubble.
Lee, because the networks are willing to pay for it. It looks good for press releases. Unfortunately, the advertisers are only willing to pay for 3 days of DVR and only those viewers that actually watch commercials.
Lee, it’s not a stupid question, it’s a very good one.
The networks want to know how many people watch their programs, at least for PR purposes. Secondly, the networks want to get the idea into the advertisers head that a lot more people watch shows when you add in DVR #s.
The reason we think the numbers don’t matter much is because about 80% of the commercials are fast-forwarded over via DVR. The networks are fighting the uphill battle of trying to extract value out of those commercials, even if they are fast-forwarded over.
Lee, I find them interesting, as you’ve indicated you do. Not everything we track matters to the future of a show, and we try and make clear what we believe does and doesn’t.
Robert says: Julia meant that 32% of the audience FOX could actually potentially make money on didn’t return.
Hulu runs ads. And online viewing is actually pretty high. Downloads count plenty particularly if we’re talking iTunes. It does depend on the WB/Fox exchange though, as to how much FOX profits off it. It at the very least could give the WB incentive to shop the show around if it comes to that.
leo says: I doubt DVR will save Dollhouse this time …
It’s saved it a bit, FOX will at least air all 13 episodes.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3ib26dae96f6367a4412347c44da858d50
Blue, how many people watched on Hulu — FOX will happily tell you how many people watched on TV, but won’t tell you how many watched online. If even a million people a week were watching online, FOX would be issuing weekly press releases.
Also, Hulu runs about 15% of the ads that air on TV. Even if it’s selling them for twice as much, and 250,000 a week are watching it’s still only worth about the equivalent of 75,000 extra TV viewers. Even at a million it would only be an extra 300,000 equivalent TV viewers. And it’s nowhere near a million.
Thanks for the replies. It makes much more sense now.
These guys are scooping you, lol. All 13 episodes will air. FOX says so !
http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/10/fox-we-will-air-all-13-dollhouse-episodes.html
Notty, that article has been on this site for the past 3.5 hours.
I don’t remember anyone exactly making a big deal of Kings getting to air all 13 of its episodes. My memory could be clouded by a surprisingly fun Monday Night Football game or just because I’m old.
I did find it a bit interesting that the version of Hibberd’s story that ran on hollwoodreporter.com did not contain the quote from the executive about Dollhouse perhaps being bounced during November sweeps, but it is included in the thrfeed.com version. That’s perhaps the most telling part of the story for me when it comes to how FOX really feels about Dollhouse.
My read on Fox’s comments was that they really aren’t sure what this show is going to do next, that’s it’s on thin ice, and that they are prepared to quickly pull it from the Sweeps period if need be.
But if they were too down on it already, then I would think that they wouldn’t have committed to airing it on the 30th, and have already agreed to air all 13 Episodes.
The door is definitely open to it not airing in Sweeps, but based on those comments, I’m guessing that they haven’t made their decision yet.
Though I am perhaps a tad bit biased.
Until DVR can be monetized I have a hard time believing the hype that a network or it’s advertisers care much about these numbers.
The way I see it Dollhouse is fairly cheap to make. There really aren’t any special effects in the show at all. It’s all old-school pretty lights scifi. And the writing and acting is incredibly good. Fox should see about selling the series to USA networks to be shown on SciFi. At the least FOX should move Dollhouse to Tuesday nights. So far this fall on Tuesdays I’ve been watching NetFlix and DVR saves as there’s nothing on that interests me, the typical SciFi middle-age male, you know one of the prime demographics…