Last week, Nielsen issued the Top Ten’s of 2008 for a variety of media. This week Nielsen takes a more detailed look at the top timeshifted television programs in the U.S. during this calendar year.
The charts below show the top ten primetime TV programs that saw the biggest increase in timeshifted playback within seven days from the original telecast.
The first chart is ranked by total gain in household audience from timeshifting, and the second chart is ranked by the percent increase in household rating.
Top 10 “Timeshifted” Primetime Programs: Ranked by Increase In Households
| Rank | Program | Network | Absolute Difference in Households (000) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | American Idol – Tuesday | FOX | 2,153 |
| 2 | American Idol – Wednesday | FOX | 1,945 |
| 3 | Heroes | NBC | 1,832 |
| 4 | Lost | ABC | 1,793 |
| 5 | Fringe | FOX | 1,602 |
| 6 | House | FOX | 1,454 |
| 7 | The Mentalist | CBS | 1,445 |
| 8 | Survivor: Gabon | CBS | 1,396 |
| 9 | Grey’s Anatomy – Thur 9PM | ABC | 1,358 |
| 10 | Bones | FOX | 1,331 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (January 1, 2008 – November 30, 2008). | |||
| Note: Absolute difference in (000) is based on Live and Live+ 7 Household projections. A program must reach at least a 1.0 live+7 HH rating and have at least 4 telecasts. Excludes telecasts under 5 minutes. | |||
Top 10 “Timeshifted” Primetime Programs: Ranked by Percent Difference
| Rank | Program | Network | % Increase In Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Battlestar Galactica (Orig) | SCIFI | 53% |
| 2 | Burn Notice | USA | 37% |
| 3 | Heroes | NBC | 35% |
| 3 | 90210 | CW | 35% |
| 3 | Sanctuary | SCIFI | 35% |
| 6 | Eureka | SCIFI | 34% |
| 7 | My Boys | TBSC | 32% |
| 8 | Psych | USA | 29% |
| 9 | In Plain Sight | USA | 28% |
| 10 | America’s Top Model – 5 | CW | 27% |
| 10 | Fringe | FOX | 27% |
| 10 | The Starter Wife | USA | 27% |
| 10 | The Office | NBC | 27% |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (January 1, 2008 – November 30, 2008). | |||
| Note: Percent increase in rating is based on the difference between Live Household Ratings and Live+7. A program must reach at least a 1.0 live+7 HH rating and have at least 4 telecasts. Data excludes telecasts under five minutes. | |||
View the media alert.
Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings by Reuters and in Variety, E! Online, Adweek, Media Post, and Multichannel News.
Relive the greatest hits of 2008 — stay tuned on Nielsen Wire for more Tops In 2008 coverage.
Look ahead to the new year with Nielsen Wire’s 2009 Industry Outlook series.
Interesting but not unexpected.
However, before we all run around as chicken little did (prematurely), please consider this study as the first published with any “real” relevance. Consequently, 2008 serves as the meaningful commencement date for time-shifting (not, 1998, 1999, 2000, etc., and/or, Tivo, Set-Top, etc.) research.
If we are honestly going to track, consider, loose sleep over, etc., the most important analysis is the total number of a program’s actual viewers (seven-day or whatever, & at this EARLY point, doesn’t even mater what demo – gross is fine) minus total number of actual time-shifters, expressed as a percentage.
When this percentage is worthy of merit, then we can start to be thoughtful regarding this NEW data (inclusion of demos, etc.) and how to apply it.
I’m all about being ahead of the curve, but until there is a shred of critical mass, it’s just more %^&$#@ baloney in my Inbox — DELETE .
[...] an attempt to keep up with the rising number of time-delayed viewers, the Nielsen Co. has issued a list of television programs that saw the biggest increases in DVR use in [...]
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