Nielsen: Still Struggling

"NBC Universal and Nielsen have decided to collaborate on new sales measures using data from TV ratings, online video streaming and consumer activity based on specific industry categories. It's just the latest step by a TV network to cobble together information for advertisers that goes beyond the typical reach-and-frequency ratings that have been the benchmark of the business for decades.

"The pact comes as more advertisers are demanding measurements which take into account the new ways consumers are getting their entertainment and information. As more homes secure broadband connections, consumers' ability to watch TV programs and other forms of video entertainment online is increasing. So media outlets are looking for ways to measure viewing across different media venues, not just that taking place in front of the big screen in the living room. Marketers, meanwhile, are eager to discover just which ads lead consumers to purchase their products."

Nuts To Nielsen: Phase II

Thanks to NorsU for this information:

"Phase 2

I think we have generated enough Media buzz and interest in shelling Nielsen headquarters. I think we can start the next phase of the campaign. By changing how we are counted. I have contacted and communicated with ErinMedia’s CEO Frank Maggio one of the biggest players in the TV ratings biz. His advice was to move focus more onto major Cable companies. We should contact them and express unhappiness with current Nielsen rating system and that the cable companies give ErinAccess, TNS access to viewer data so they can count ALL actual viewers. No games – democracy- real time and actual views/votes. There are approximately 30 MILLION Cable viewers that could all be counted with modern technology. Yet antiquated Nielsen system still rules the ratings and TV Advertising currency.


Phase 3 which will roll out rather fast is getting this information to other fandoms. I think we can find a lot of other show fans upset with Nielsen. And educate them and see the info – and get this some legs. Those that are hardcore nutters - feel free to shell the cable companies but best to focus on contacting them!

Draft protest message – feel free to modify & personalize! Try & work Nuts to Nielsen in

I am tired of Nielsen deciding who is watching what show when they do not count 99.999% of viewers. I request that cable operators share their data with companies like erinMedia and TNS. I want to be counted, and would prefer playing an active part in determining the success or failure of TV programs. Nuts to Nielsen – lets start tracking all TV viewers democratically! Nuts to Nielsen! Jericho TV viewer who demands to be counted!"


Go here for more info.
****************************
"Don Ohlmeyer, the president of NBC's West Coast division, is blunt in his criticism. ''I don't trust their numbers at all,'' he said in a recent interview. ''They're trying to measure 21st-century technology with an abacus.''

Despite the recent downturn in viewership, as measured by Nielsen, the number of homes with televisions has consistently grown and is now at 97 million.

The release of the data from the crucial Feburary sweeps period has intensified the old debate over Nielsen's monopoly role as the company that counts which shows have captured which viewers. Once the Bible of television ratings, Nielsen has enraged its best customers. Most angry are the broadcast networks, who blame flaws and inconsistencies in Nielsen's system for the loss of tens of millions of dollars.

Giving new weight to their concerns, three networks have banded together for the first time to help finance an experimental ratings system that they hope will either become a full-fledged competitor to Nielsen by the end of the century, or at least force the rating company to change its methodology and answer their main complaints."

Jericho: Fan Campaigns

Excellent post today by Rich of Copywrite Ink.



"Yesterday, Amy Vernon with Remote Access let Jericho fans know that Universal HD, a cable network owned by NBC Universal, is airing Jericho for two mini-marathons in high definition, starting tonight. One person commented.

A few days ago, CBS launched a viral YouTube video that is aimed at fans more than new viewers. To date, it has received less than 15,000 views, a fraction of what Jericho fans once mustered. Even the positive comments hint at frustration.

“Thank you, CBS, for finally letting us know what the freak is freaking happening."

"All fan campaigns have limits. For evidence, take a look back at the three we turned our attention to last June: The Black Donnellys, Veronica Mars, and, of course, Jericho."

While I’m still being brought up to speed on the viability of the Journeyman campaign, it seems clear that consumers are increasingly prepared to pummel networks for quick cancellation of good shows. Sooner or later, networks might get the message: the old rules are dead. Nowadays, it’s better to feed shows on the bubble than let them fade quietly into the night because there is nothing quiet about vested fans and brands can only take so much."

NBC: Understanding Viewers

Oh, Matt Lauer of the Today Show made a goof. So did the lady he interviewed. I have to tell you this story about a town (Decatur, Alabama) that is 13 miles away from me and what NBC did about it.



NBC Understands Viewers:
"Superintendent Sam Houston issued a "y'all come" invitation to the New York studios of the "Today Show" after a segment Thursday morning claimed that Decatur "has bad schools."

Houston sent a letter to "Today Show" officials inviting them to see Decatur's education status. The letter is in response to a statement correspondent Barbara Corcoran made.

In a comparison of $500,000 real estate, she said a buyer could buy a two-bedroom townhouse in a gated community in Tucson, Ariz., or a four-bedroom, 3,800-square-foot house on 111/2 acres with a pond and pool in Decatur. (The home in question is just outside the city limits.)

Corcoran then ended her statement to host Matt Lauer, "What you don't get is good schools. They've got a bad school system. But taxes are only $1,000 a year."

Not only that but Matt Lauer referred to Decatur as " Green Acres." The people of Decatur were not happy.

Superintendent Sam Houston wrote a letter to Mr. Jim Bell,Executive Producer of
The Today Show.
Read it here.


NBC first they would allow a two minute retraction on the Today but the head of NBC said NO. What else did he say? He is sending Corcoran and others to Decatur to see that it isn't "Green Acres." Neither are the schools "bad."

Kudos to NBC for considering their viewers and going to the source to make a correction!!

Older Couch Potatoes

I found an interesting article in the June 26, 2007 AdAge. For the fifth year in a row Magna Global's Median Age Report has found that the median age of people who watch the top five networks during Primetime has increased. It's not much- from 47 to 48 for the 2006-2007 season.

CBS has a median age of 54. They did lower their percentage of 65+ viewers and increased the percentage of viewers aged 50-64. So, CBS' average age stayed at 54. NBC's median age is 49, ABC's is 48, and Fox sits at 42. Median age of the CW viewers is 32.


Therefore, my question is why do CBS and other networks still insist upon wanting the 18-49 group? Maybe the median age is increasing because younger viewers are watching their favorite shows in other ways? Another report in the June 25, 2007 AdAge found that TV time is almost equal to the time 9-17 year olds spend involved in social networking. "And when kids are multitasking, they're four times more likely to pay closer attention to whatever they're doing online than to whatever they're watching on the tube. "
Could these older viewers be the reason Katie Couric's show isn't doing too well? Perhaps Leslie Moonves has ticked off the very audience he needs. Maybe he'd do well to start catering more to older couch potatoes.

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=118837

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=118763

The Black Donnellys

Yes, this is a Jericho blog so why is this about TBD's today? First, because I know how important bloggers were to the Nuts campaign so this is a small return the favor type thing. Second, these fans of TBD's are really nice, polite, kind folks and I believe they deserve a helping hand in spreading the word. Third, they may not have our Jericho Rangers numbers but they definitely have the passion. Therefore, I have invited Paige, Ruth, and Carmen to explain the details of their campaign. They are VIP Guest Bloggers and I thank them for their efforts.


If you haven’t heard of The Black Donnellys (“TBD”), there are several reasons why which I will explain in the following paragraphs. But first, a look into what The Black Donnellys is all about and why you should tune in……

The show was written by Oscar award winning writers Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco (Crash). The show was largely based on Bobby Moresco’s life growing up in Hell’s Kitchen. The Black Donnellys is narrated by Joey “Ice Cream” and follows four Irish brothers, Tommy, Kevin, Jimmy and Sean Donnelly who place family above all and find themselves catapulted into a life they never dreamed of. In the pilot episode, Tommy and Kevin do the unthinkable to save their brother Jimmy from himself and to keep him and the family out of harms way… and this is where it all begins. Throughout the season, we see the emotions erupt, motives unravel and suspicions revisited. The Black Donnellys offers drama, comedic relief, action, suspense, and most of all, a glimpse at what it means to be a family.

So now I will get to the reason The Black Donnellys was pulled from the air after the 5th episode and the continuing struggle for the fans to bring the Donnelly boys back for a second season.

NBC first aired The Black Donnellys on February 26, 2007 on Monday night at 10:00 p.m. EST and pulled in 6 million viewers. This was an amazing number of viewers considering NBC failed to market The Black Donnellys. The first and second episodes followed Heroes and was up against CSI Miami, an already well established and popular show. The third and fourth episodes aired after a primetime game show (Heroes was on hiatus), which is not a favorable lead-in for The Black Donnellys because of the demographics of that particular audience. Finally, the April 2nd show (5th episode) was aired in competition with the NCAA tournament. As NBC's first pick for the 2006-2007 fall season, NBC missed a great marketing opportunity and failed TBD from the start. The Black Donnellys was originally intended to air in the Thursday night timeslot, while ER was on hiatus in January. Instead TBD was pushed back to air in February on Monday nights, a night known as the most dreaded timeslot.

NBC took The Black Donnellys off the air after 5 episodes and placed the show on NBC.com and Itunes for our small screen viewing pleasure and then the fun started. The fans sent emails and letters and made phone calls pleading with NBC to let them know the future of The Black Donnellys. We wanted our show back on primetime! The fans received no response from NBC. Instead, NBC “forgot” to upload the episodes on the internet and began deleting threads pertaining to efforts to “save The Black Donnellys” without any warning. What is so upsetting about this is that many, many fans spent a lot of time placing information on the boards (i.e., media contact information, daily tasks, sample letters, etc), which were all erased without a moment’s thought after all of the work the fans had done. Now we not only have to recreate the wheel but we can’t even place a topic on the NBC boards directing fans to our campaign website without the thread being instantly deleted and our accounts getting suspended.

So, are the “firecrackers” backing down? Well, of course not! We've renewed our efforts to save The Black Donnellys. We are focusing our efforts on HBO (and if need be, other networks later on) since NBC appears to be doing everything it can to squash the Save The Black Donnellys campaign. Therefore, we've created our own website containing information about the Save The Black Donnellys campaign. You can find all of the information you need about the ongoing campaign efforts at http://savetheblackdonnellys.net/ . Our current campaign initiatives are focused on spreading the word about the campaign and sending shamrocks, quarters and crackers (for the "firecrackers") to HBO. To make things really easy, we've even included a "Donate" button on the campaign website so that you can contribute to the bulk shipment of crackers that we plan to send to HBO soon. In addition, each day we post a new "Daily Action Item" on the campaign site. These items are targeted at creating the most buzz about The Black Donnellys and letting HBO know how much we want a second season. Best of all, the daily action items take only 5-15 minutes to do so everyone can participate. We'll continue to discuss the campaign, new ideas, and our progress in the "Firecrackers" section at The Firecracker Lounge http://thefirecrackerlounge.com/firecracker/index.php#1. We need everyone to help with whatever they can. Please join us in the fight to bring back the Donnelly brothers for season 2. Thank you.

**The Black Donnellys petition has over 36,000 signatures and is gaining speed every day. Sign the petition at www.petitionspot.com

**Mark Cuban realized a quality drama in The Black Donnellys. HDNet is currently airing the first season on Wednesday nights at 8:00 EST. Visit www.hd.net/ for more information.

**Watch all episodes of The Black Donnellys on NBC.com and/or Itunes!