Manish Bhatia, President Advanced Digital Client Services
The television industry is about to sail into a vast ocean of granular insights on TV viewing.  The ocean we refer to is, of course, Set Top Box (STB) data.  Other industries have also entered their own uncharted waters, with access to multiple sources of more granular information – manufacturers have shipment data and store data, magazines have circulation figures and sales data, the Internet has log files.  In most of these cases, the industry players have found a way to navigate through huge, …

Americans are watching more TV than ever, and the increasing penetration of DVRs has likely contributed to increased viewership.  But “Must See TV” doesn’t mean that people are gathering around their TV anymore during primetime on a Thursday night.  Appointment viewing is now when the viewer wants to watch it thanks to DVRs.  As of March 2009, 30.6 percent of households in Nielsen’s National People Meter Panel have a DVR, up significantly from just 12.3 percent in January 2007.
A key factor to this expansion is the integration of DVRs into …

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
5,831,000

2
BURN NOTICE
USA
5,385,000

3
SPRINT CUP RACING/CHICAGO
TNT
5,129,000

4
IN PLAIN SIGHT
USA
5,087,000

5
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
5,059,000

6
LAW & ORDER: CI (ORIG)
USA
4,899,000

7
ABC FAMILY ORIGINAL MOVIE(S)-07/13/2008 (PICTURE THIS PR)
FAM
4,270,000

8
CAMP ROCK
DSNY
4,056,000

9
SPONGEBOB
NICK
3,978,000

10
MONSTERS, INC.
DSNY
3,864,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (July 7, 2008 – July 13, 2008)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
SPRINT CUP RACING/DAYTONA
TNT
6,390,000

2
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
5,282,000

3
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
5,019,000

4
NASCAR POST RACE SHOW
TNT
4,904,000

5
LAW & ORDER: CI (ORIG)
USA
4,882,000

6
IN PLAIN SIGHT
USA
4,584,000

7
MLB SUNDAY NIGHT L (RED SOX/YANKEES)
ESPN
4,125,000

8
WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE
DSNY
3,841,000

9
ARMY WIVES
LIF
3,787,000

10
LAW & ORDER: SVU
USA
3,787,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (June 30, 2008 – July 6, 2008)