ClueLes Moonves and Nielsen Ratings

Can you say ClueLes? This man is the head of CBS? Quincy Smith sees more people switching to the Internet yet CBS cancels Jericho which had so many people watching online? I think ClueLes Moonves let his wounded ego get in the way of Jericho making him tons of money online.


"CBS's CEO Leslie Moonves told reporters on a conference call that acquiring access to CNet's large online audience in order to distribute media content from CBS was "a large part" of CBS' motivation in going after the San Francisco-based online company.

"Our idea is to have our content wherever, whenever you can get it, and adding CNet just makes that happen faster," Moonves said.

Moonves said he saw opportunities for distributing CBS news, music and other content on CNet's online outlets, and also for tapping CNet's significant online advertising sales operation to boost over ad growth for the media company.

CBS's chief of interactive business Quincy Smith has been moving aggressively to find new online outlets for its entertainment programming as more people shift their media consumption from traditional outlets like TV and radio to the Internet."



"Practically everyone has heard the terms 'TV ratings' or 'Nielsen ratings', but very few people, even in the entertainment industry really understand how these ratings work.

Many people think of Nielsen as a public service, but this is far from the truth. Nielsen provides data only to those who pay for it. Nielsen's clients are, for the most part, television networks and the companies who advertise on those networks.

Nielsen has been under fire recently, being blamed for the cancellation of some television shows that have very faithful, if not huge audiences. Most notable are is the recently canceled CBS show Jericho. This show was canceled after its first season, but a well-organized effort, which saw tens of thousands of pounds of peanuts sent to the network execs at CBS resulted in the show being picked up for a second season, only to be canceled yet again due to Nielsen numbers which would look great to the vast majority of networks, but which CBS felt simply weren't good enough."

CBS: Moonves Out ?

"Favored sons and daughters float into Viacom/CBS mogul Sumner Redstone's life like sunshine after rain. Unfortunately, after a pleasant year or two, they usually get thrown right out again (including his actual sons and daughters).

A couple of quarters ago, Sumner was positively over the moon about CBS (CBS) CEO Les Moonves. But that was before CBS's stock sucked wind for another six months, Moonves gave himself a $37 million raise, and Viacom (VIAB) CEO Philippe Dauman gradually eclipsed his rival to become the apple of Sumner's eye.

The key sign Moonves's days are numbered? Yesterday, Sumner killed Viacom's deal with CBS's Showtime, announcing that it would form its own pay channel."



"The bad news for CBS News began last week with several days of speculation about the future of its anchor, Katie Couric. Then came word on Monday that the network would not get the opportunity to present a Democratic primary debate in North Carolina. On Tuesday CBS received ratings results that put an exclamation point on its troubles: the “CBS Evening News” recorded the worst five-night run in its history last week."

Networks:and Programming

"Networks will announce their fall schedules next month, but some shows can be considered dead already.

"Cane," the magnificently produced South Florida soap opera on CBS about a clan of sugar barons, will get the machete. Steamy and cinematically beautiful as it was, it just didn't get the ratings it needed to survive."


"CBS CEO Leslie Moonves told investors and analysts at a media conference last month that the network would be doing "a CBS Corporation upfront" where it presents its new season to advertisers at New York's Carnegie Hall, May 14: "We're going to sell outdoor. We're going to sell radio in all its forms. We're going to sell television stations. We're going to sell syndication. We're going to sell network. It's going to be a very different look than we've ever had before."



"CBS fared better on an ad revenue per person basis for its NCAA basketball tournament delivery online than on TV. So why is Gossip Girl being dragged offline for viewing only on the CW Network, partly owned by CBS?

Gossip Girl's demographic focus goes straight to the 18-34 audience, the only one that exists as far as the networks are concerned. It's an online savvy audience as well. We wonder if CW has failed to make money with it online, or simply not made the enormous pots of money studio heads feel entitled to in their minds."

CBS: Problems, Problems

"CBS has hit some rough patches, according to Paid Content:

The parent company is under a mini-siege of sorts about
a) its performance,
b) Leslie Mooves’ salary, [sic]
c) Katie Couric’s disastrous tenure at the company,
d) layoffs (even on the digital side, as others are ramping up) and other issues…
e) CBS’s need for an acquisition is becoming apparent. Some CBS executives privately agree."
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"Indeed, other networks have found it difficult to keep low-rated shows alive, even if the programs notch fans in other venues. After keeping the sci-fi drama "Jericho" for another season due to fan protest, CBS decided to yank the drama. Last year, CBS executives admonished fans that no matter how much they enjoyed the program online and via DVR playback, low ratings could not be tolerated."
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"Moonves is a typical old-fashioned Hollywood mogul who believes that stars are the most important element in the success an entertainment program. He obviously believes that CBS's showcase news broadcast, The Evening News is not a news program but an entertainment program -- a show -- which is why he lured Katie Couric away from NBC to be its anchor. He thought she would bring personality and show biz spark to the show. But the largely 65+ audience for The Evening News didn't find perkiness a sufficient substitute for knowledge of current events or news judgment. The show's ratings dropped to an even lower third place than before Cute Katie came on board."

CBS: Paying Big Bucks

No wonder CBS is laying off people.

"CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves' compensation soared last year -- to $36.8 million, a 28% increase over the previous year -- even as ratings on its flagship television network slipped and advertising sales at its radio and television stations softened.

Moonves, 58, earned a base salary of $5.3 million for 2007 and was awarded a $18.5 million cash bonus. Moonves also received more than $13 million in stock and option awards, according to the proxy. Moonves struck a new long-term contract with the company in October. The new deal stretches through September 2011."
********************************

"The daily Nielsen ratings do not include the out-of-home viewers yet. When Nielsen makes the data broadly available ­ perhaps as early as this month, in a limited fashion ­ it will be reported separately, apart from the ratings “currency” for buying and selling commercial time. Still, the numbers present a more accurate reflection of the audience for a given episode or event."
********************************

"The Nielsen Company yesterday confirmed that it had made company-wide job cuts—including at its Nielsen Business Media division.

Although it declined to say exactly how many people were let go, Nielsen says this latest round of layoffs puts the company closer to its goal of reducing 4,000 positions, which was part of a restructuring plan announced in December 2006. According to sources, as few as 40 and as many as 200 people were laid off. Nielsen said the cuts were across the entire organization and are not concentrated in any particular brand."

CBS: You Are Dead To Me

Digital Changes

"What is often a rather humdrum discussion of the strengths of magazines, TV and other media venues this year turned into an exercise in grenade launching and hand wringing over the increasingly obvious shortcomings in media measurement.

This year's 4A's Media Conference was given the title "Digital Changes Everything." That much is a truism accepted by most many moons ago, but what became evident as the panels and speeches at this year's event unfolded is that the digitization of our lives is raising questions a lot of media owners and agencies are far from being able to answer."




"When asked about the future of TV and of video on the internet, people reveal profound differences in attitudes based on age groups. We asked people ages 12 to 64 if they agreed (on a scale of one to five, with five meaning they agreed completely) with two statements about the future of TV and competition with the TV for entertainment time."



" For a variety of shows, the Web proves valuable as a time machine, permitting users to catch up on missed episodes. The Web site for “Jericho,” a show that was canceled by CBS but revived last year because of Internet-savvy fans, had roughly 1.3 million video views in the first week after the show’s second-season debut on Feb. 12. Less than half of those views were of the premiere episode; the rest were from viewers catching up on the first season or sharing clips.

In addition to tracking the episode views, CBS measures the amount of online conversation happening about shows.

“We’re still midstream,” said Nina Tassler, the president of CBS Entertainment. “We’re still learning about people’s behaviors and we’re still learning about what shows really resonate with an online audience.”

Schumi Leads Again

"The biggest difference this time is fans are not being asked to bombard CBS with nuts. Instead, the fan-based campaign focuses on “Jericho’s” popularity in alternative distribution nodes like the Internet and timeshifted viewing, which grows the live audience by more than 20 percent according to releases issued by CBS.

The campaign is being facillitated by fan-forum member who goes under the screen name of Shumi. In an open letter to CBS, Shumi said, “With ‘Jericho’ you succeeded where your competitors frequently fail — you brought viewers back to network television,” Schumi said. “You did that by taking a chance on a little show that was different and offered more than the usual fare of recycled drama plots, or mindless games shows and reality TV. But what you brought back was a new viewer, the viewer of tomorrow.”

Shumi’s goes on to say that CBS is passing up a “lucrative opportunity” with the network’s “online opportunities.”
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Trish Kate's TV Talk

"Even if 75% of those 15 million opt out of the real time measurement (highly unlikely), that blows nielsen's 25,000 sample away because we're still talking millions. It makes Nielsen look absolutely piddly. And really, in this day & age, Nielsen is antiquated. Do you want change? Speak up. Be loud. Make NOISE. Because it's NOT going to change until we do.
Jericho has exploded online - critics, news articles, entertainment features, cast interviews, blogs, iTunes purchases, Amazon Unboxed purchases, CBS' own website - including forums and innertube views, Xbox live, illegal torrent numbers, etc.. whew. I could go on & on. It's overwhelming and it speaks volumes. Jericho is popular.

Ok back to Nielsen chatter. I'll be investigating this whole thing further, because we just can't let this go. No matter what happens with Jericho, the time for television measurement change is now. For every single person that watches Television: this is your fight too, don't think for a minute that it isn't. Your favorite show may someday disappear without warning if you don't act now."

Jericho: Counting The Everyman

My thanks to Karen for sharing her letter. Pay attention CBS.



To whom it may concern:

I’m writing you today to encourage the people that matter and
influence programming decisions to continue to support a little show
called Jericho. To be totally honest I do not trust Nielsen’s to
accurately represent myself and people like me who have little time
in their life for brainless, heartless television. Perhaps we do not
represent double digit millions but we are significant. We matter.
This is the only way I can feel I count so I truly hope someone reads
this.

I fall in the treasured age demographic, though I am a female and not
the coveted “boy-man” demo. I make a respectable income and have
complete control over how it is spent.

Why do I support Jericho so passionately? I’ve though a great deal
about this because I wondered why I cared so much too. For one thing,
from the first promo I saw I was reminded of one of my favorite
novels, read many times, Alas Babylon.

I am from the Midwest. I grew up in South Dakota and my father was a
Chief Master Sergeant in the Air Force and he worked in a missile
wing. I can still remember when he snuck me into a missile silo and
let me peek over the edge. I was maybe 8 years old. I knew exactly
what it was and what it could do. Maybe because of this, I have
always known such possibilities as Jericho really do exist. Maybe
that is part of the lure. But when you grow up in South Dakota, and
for years at any rate, you couldn’t drive very far but you saw the
tell tale (at least to me) signs of a nuclear weapon somewhere.

I went to university in South Dakota too, graduated and now live and
work in Nebraska. I work for a small, independent telephone, cable
and internet company that services much of rural central Nebraska.

Do you realize that Jericho is one of the few programs I can ever
remember that accurately depicts small town, rural Americans? Jericho
is the “everyman” for a chunk of Americans who are largely neglected
by the entertainment industry. I know every single one of the people
portrayed in Jericho in real life.

My telephone technicians, who are also the county EMTs, and fireman
or who ranch on the side, one even runs a scavenging business and can
find you any kind of part, engine or any object are just like many
characters on Jericho. Oliver with the radio? Totally my customer
who calls in insisting that men in black cars are parking on the hill
and tapping in to their phone conversations. Emily and Heather are
definitely the women who teach but work the farm as well, or like the
woman who opened the mechanics shop with money she inherited from
family. Gail and Johnston Green are the people who come rescue you 40
miles out in to the country when your car breaks down. Do you see
characters like this on the double digit million viewer shows?
Probably not, because the majority of your urban viewers (read: the
most people with a Nielsen box) don’t think that’s realistic.

Jericho puts these people in an unknowable situation and the writers
spin heart and intrigue into the stories. People think no one is as
versatile as these characters but when you live where there isn’t a
WalMart for 50 miles and businesses close at 8 or 10 pm, you make
sure you know how to do many different jobs and you develop multiple
skills. There is no place I would rather be than a small town if a
disaster occurred.

The writers have also put us, viewers that relate, into a position to
feel up close and personal what people in many nations deal with
daily: deprivation and oppression. It is one thing to watch the news
and see a story or read history and another to see a street that
looks like my street, with people who are just like the people I know
facing that situation.

I also appreciate that the women of Jericho are presented as the
backbone of the community, as people of strength, action, wisdom and
practicality.

But, why should the network support Jericho?

Because six million faithful viewers in your hand is worth 11 million
in the proverbial bush.

Jericho fans turn out. Jericho fans continue to recruit (but it takes
time to catch people up). With the lead in of a show that is
guaranteed to be viewed by people who have no desire to turn on their
brains, you can’t expect them to stay tuned to Jericho. And people
who would probably like Jericho aren’t going to remember to go back
and turn it on (unless they are the diehards). This is not effective
scheduling.

Why should you support Jericho? Because on a night when the biggest
juggernaut in American Television history has its following sitting
on the phone either voting or yapping with a friend over yet another
singing zombie must see TV episode, Jericho holds steady. On the
Tuesday nights when the first actually exciting primaries between
iconic, history making candidates is playing out and people are
actually interested, maybe even excited about politics, Jericho is
holding steady. Without E!TV coverage of some scandalous trespass the
actors are not involved in; without one Early Show recap, behind the
scenes or sneak peak; without Barbie Doll actors sporting the latest
fashions or indulging in clandestine, steamy relationships in a
closet, Jericho is holding steady.

Imagine a Jericho that is supported. Imagine a Jericho with some talk
show coverage. Imagine a Jericho aired before the viewers have to go
to bed because they work early. Imagine a Jericho with a lead in of a
television show that somewhat fits the profile of viewers interested
in smart, speculative, heart warming, funny, action TV.

Why, the viewer base might have a chance to grow! And always, like a
steady heartbeat, the faithful fans will be there. Your numbers at
least show that. I know advertisers buy the shows, but there are more
types of viewers than rating Goliaths cater to, and we have money to
spend too. Why not get both kinds of viewers instead of settling for
just the one slice, even if it is big? Is it really smarter to throw
an amount of money after a possibility than hang on to something
solid? How many of your freshman shows survived last year? I’m not
gambling a whole lot when I say maybe a smaller return on a sure
thing is better to back than losing a wad of money to that
glistening, good looking longshot.

Now a word about “new media”. I know it is an unknown factor. I know
it isn’t quantifiable in the same way as tried and trusty (but
questionable in truly reflecting the entire public’s taste)
Nielsen’s. New media is a baby.

Well, someone needs to start feeding the baby now. It may not be a
huge number but Jericho has a strong internet and download following.
Yes, some of it is repeat users like myself who want media in various
formats, but a lot of it is unique. It’s certainly how the people I
have interested in Jericho are catching up.

The company I work for took a gamble 12 years ago and shelled out to
begin installing a fiber network throughout our territory, which is
some of the most rugged isolated country around, because they saw
something coming. The big companies didn’t want to do it and other
independents were uncertain (though many were persuaded by our
actions to do the same not too long after). As a result, when the
technology was needed because the public interest in digital devices
became a necessity, we were able to provide service long before other
rural areas. Our CEO didn’t use internet and didn’t see why our
customers would need it, but some of us persuaded them that these
people needed it most. You are lucky if your town has a public
library at all, and those that do have maybe two days a week that it
is open. In an area where you have to mail order half your purchases
or drive 50 or more miles to Walmart or Kmart or Target because they
don’t carry it at the U Pump It or local equivalent of Gracie’s
Grocery, internet was going to be a godsend. So, as a result 95% of
our customers can get DSL and the rest are coming (it really is
rural). While big companies are dropping the towns they have because
they don’t want to put in equipment and while other small
independents or co-ops are closing because it is too much to handle
now when demand is so big, we are stable because we fed the baby.

The other day, one of my remote customers called in very excited
because we will be turning up equipment that can provide her DSL.
Satellite TV is all that brings them a clear picture, if it isn’t
windy, or storming, which it often is. The first question out of her
mouth to me was “So then I can watch TV shows whenever I want online,
right? And I don’t have to watch them when they are on TV?” The very
first question. Not pricing or anything else was on the top of her
mind, but rather “I can watch TV shows”.

Find a way to monetize, measure and quantify “new media” because,
like Jericho fans, it’s here and it’s not going anywhere soon. Feed
the baby.
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Breaking News: CBS Press Release

"Source: CBS Press Release.

On-Air + Online + On-DVR = Many More Eyeballs and Double Digit Percentage Demo Increases

"Jericho" and "Big Brother" Viewer Engagement Across Multi-Platforms Is Far Greater Than Initial Same Day Ratings Indicate

On-air, online and on-DVR viewing are resulting in many more eyeballs for CBS series JERICHO and BIG BROTHER, according to Nielsen Live Plus 7-Day ratings and new data from CBS Interactive Research.

JERICHO:

According to Nielsen Live Plus 7-Day ratings, JERICHO's second season premiere (Feb. 12) ratings increased by +15% in adults 18-49 (3.0/07 from 2.6/07), +17% in adults 25-54 (3.5/08 from 3.0/07) and by more than one million viewers (8.14m from 7.13m, +14%) compared to its live plus same day ratings.

According to CBS Interactive Research, the second season premiere episode of JERICHO was streamed 520,000 times across the CBS Audience Network during its first week (Feb. 12-18) and 700,000 times over a 14-day period (Feb. 12-25).

JERICHO's other online engagement during its second season premiere week included 760,000 streams of episodes from its first season and 130,000 streams of various clips, upping JERICHO's first week cumulative streams to 1.41 million.

Additional online engagement for JERICHO that week included five times the volume of JERICHO searches vs. the prior four weeks, seven times the daily traffic to JERICHO message boards (compared to mid-January traffic) and three times the average daily blog posts. "

Nielsen Gadgetry

"Over the years, I’ve seen plenty of good shows tank due to poor ratings, including Sports Night, Wonderfalls, Freaks and Geeks, and Undeclared. And one day about two years ago, I thought all that would change, because my household was randomly chosen to be part of the "Nielsen family.

Not only did my watching or not watching shows have no impact on what made it and what didn’t, but also the Nielsen gadgetry became larger and larger, until at one point our two TVs had so many boxes and wires hanging off of them that they resembled a fifth grader’s technology project, with boxes literally duct-taped to the backs of the TV sets. (Oh, and the technicians had to buy us two new VHS recorders when they managed to drop each of ours within hours of each other.)

The last straw was when Nielsen called and said they would have to come by my house to install some new equipment (for the third time in six months) and it would probably take two days minimum.

There was no telling how much crap they would be taping to my TVs this time around.

So I told them to take all their stuff, because I was through.

And ever since, just as many shows I watch have been canceled, so it seems I didn’t really count anyway."

Les Moonves: Julie Chen

If we could convince Julie Chen to watch Jericho we might never have to worry about ratings ever again.


"However poorly you may think the CBS crime dramas perform in reruns, these reruns best Big Brother by 50%. Big Brother fared worse in the 8pm slot than it did in the 9pm slot but that makes sense. At 8pm it has to compete with AI for the whole hour, at 9pm it doesn’t. Wednesday night BB only averaged 5.56 million vs. 6.74 million at 9pm on Tuesday. CBS doesn’t seem in a hurry to change this and has accepted that BB has lousy ratings, but doesn’t seem to care."



"Never mind the attaching stuff to your equipment, never mind the time out of your life with basically no compensation. But the amount of time to take part in this extremely flawed ratings system is tremendous. I’ve always wondered who, exactly, is a Nielsen family and why their interests seem so different from mine."

One Ringie Dingie?

"Blind Item: Please Hold for the Next Available Panicked Mogul

CARE TO GUESS?

Which of five networks is said to have been forced to hire extra people to handle all the calls flooding in from angry fans demanding a fair deal for writers? Our source says an assistant to the CEO of the network's parent company contacted a fan site that posted the CEO's phone number and pleaded, "What do I have to do to get you people to stop this?"

You see, when your business is keeping viewers and advertisers happy, there IS such a thing as bad publicity."

**Be sure to read the comments. It appears the "panicked mogul" is none other than Les Moonves.

Another interesting comment:
"You do know that Les Moonves' brother is Jon Moonves, who is on Fanlib's board of directors?"

Finally, there's Fanlib. I had never heard of the place.