Scripted Shows for Teens, Realities for Older Females
Teen and Millennial viewers in particular dedicated over a third of their primetime scripted TV viewing to series depicting at least one regular or recurring LGBT character.* Females 50 and older were attracted to realities featuring LGBT cast-members, hosts, judges and/or competitors, dedicating a significant share of their reality TV time to these programs.* Overall, one in four scripted series and one in five reality shows were LGBT-inclusive.

“The inclusion of LGBT characters on TV more accurately portrays the diverse and multicultural society we live in by encompassing all segments of the population,” said Matt O’Grady, EVP, Audience Measurement, Nielsen.

LGBT-Inclusive Shows Attract Dynamic Audiences
Audiences for LGBT-inclusive shows were as diverse as the programs themselves, though certain demographics appear to have been more exposed to LGBT images. Within the 25-49 age demographic, LGBT-inclusive programs (and its advertisers) were most likely to reach:

• College-educated white females
• Small white collar households
• Budding families (those with 3 or fewer members)

Non-white, professional Millennials without children also tended to watch LGBT-inclusive shows more frequently than primetime in general.

LGBT-Inclusive characters were incorporated into shows that skewed towards Eastern and Pacific viewers and were less watched by Midwesterners. This differential was most pronounced among 18-24 year olds in the Midwest, especially when compared to 18-24 year olds in other regions of the U.S.

Motion Pictures and Department Stores Drive Advertising
LGBT characters and plots were woven into some of the most popular broadcast primetime programs last season, and advertisers were investing their budgets there too. Motion pictures and department stores were the top categories that drove advertising on LGBT-inclusive programming, devoting 28.3 percent and 27.6 percent of their ad dollars, respectively.

Credit cards, telephone, and tech companies also spent a significant share of ad dollars with LGBT-friendly programs. Of the top 10 overall advertising categories, retail and pharmaceuticals dedicated less of their ad budgets to these shows than they did on the average for all categories.

*This list was determined by GLAAD in conjunction with their Where We Are On TV Report: 2010-2011 Season, and includes scripted programs such as Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy, The Office, 90210, Glee and House, as well as reality shows such as Dancing with the Stars and Big Brother 12. GLAAD’s Where We Are on TV Report: 2011-2012 is now available at www.glaad.org.

“Too often, companies don’t realize the inherent differences of our community, are not aware of the market size impact and have not optimized efforts to develop messages beyond those that coincide with Black History Month,” said Cloves Campbell, chairman, NNPA.

Report Highlights

• With a buying power of nearly $1 trillion annually, if African-Americans were a country, they’d be the 16th largest country in the world.
• The number of African-American households earning $75,000 or higher grew by almost 64%, a rate close to 12% greater than the change in the overall population’s earning between 2000 and 2009. This continued growth in affluence, social influence and household income will continue to impact the community’s economic power.
• African-Americans make more shopping trips than all other groups, but spend less money per trip. African-Americans in higher income brackets, also spend 300% more in higher-end retail grocers more than any other high income household.
• There were 23.9 million active African-American Internet users in July 2011 – 76% of whom visited a social networking/blog site.
• 33% of all African-Americans own a smartphone.
• African-Americans use more than double the amount of mobile phone voice minutes compared to Whites – 1,298 minutes a month vs. 606.
• The percentage of African-Americans attending college or earning a degree has increased to 44% for men and 53% for women.

Find out more by downloading the free report: The State of the African-American Consumer.

The number of persons age 2+ in Hispanic TV homes will also grow with estimates showing a 2.4% increase to a total of 44.3 million. The number of persons 2+ in African American TV homes will increase by 1.3% to 37.5 million, and persons 2+ in Asian TV homes will remain at 14.5 million.

Download the full list of Ethnic DMA rankings and universe estimates.

Local TV Market Universe Estimates

The Top 10 local markets, known in the industry as Designated Market Areas or DMAs, will remain the same this season, with a few rank changes in the Top 20. Moving up are Seattle, from 14 to 13, and Denver from 18 to 16. Tampa, Miami and Cleveland are each down one rank.

There were no new markets to enter the Top 50 or the Top 100, although there were several multi-rank increases and decreases. Notable changes in the Top 100 markets include:

• Four Florida markets are down (Tampa, Miami, Ft. Myers, Tallahassee), partially due to declines in domestic migration
• New Orleans has the largest percentage increase among all markets, up 5.2% from last year, and moves up 2 ranks from 53 to 51 as former residents return to the city and Census Bureau estimates are adjusted
• New York adds the most homes of any market (+59,710) while Waco shows the largest change in ranks, moving from 94 to 89
• Other multi-rank increases in the Sun Belt region include Tucson (+2), Shreveport (+2), and Charleston, SC (+2)
• The Midwest sees multi-rank decreases in Columbus, OH (-2), Grand Rapids (-2), Flint (-2) and South Bend (-2)

For complete details, download the full list of DMA rankings and universe estimates.

On average, 41% of all homes watched the V.P. debate last Thursday — up one-third from the first presidential debate the previous Friday night, which reached an average of 31% of all households.

Of all households, 39% watched neither debate, while 30.3% tuned in to both.  11.2% of all homes tuned in to the presidential debate only, and 19.5% tuned in to just the V.P. debate. 

Both debates drew audiences made up mostly of white viewers with higher levels of income ($100,000+) and education (4+ years of college).

Older viewers (age 55+) made up the largest portion of the TV audiences for both debates (42% – 46%).  However, the Biden-Palin V.P. debate (median age: 52) drew a slightly larger portion of younger viewers than the first Obama-McCain debate (median age: 54).

Homes headed by African Americans made up a larger portion of the presidential debate audience (14.0%) than the V.P. debate audience (12.3%).  African American homes normally account for 12.2% of all U.S. TV households.

Overall, Hispanic viewers were less likely to watch the debates.  Hispanic households, which account for 11.1%  of all TV households in the U.S., made up just 6.3% to 6.5% of the combined audience for the two debates. 

A closer look at the minute-by-minute ratings for both debates reveals few peaks or drop-offs in household viewing, which remained steady throughout both the telecasts.

Read the full report — and stay tuned during the presidential debates for more Nielsen TV audience analyses.