With Ratings Tight, TV Networks Vie For Richest Viewers
By BROOKS BARNES
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
May 18, 2005; Page B1
The TV sitcom "The Office," a documentary-style parody of corporate life, will return to General Electric Co.'s NBC in September despite a weak ratings performance. NBC's "Committed" -- a higher-rated sitcom about two neurotic twentysomethings -- won't be back.
The primary reason: Rich people like "The Office." The sitcom ranks high in "concentration" of wealthy viewers, a measurement NBC prefers to use and which makes it look good in a year when its overall ratings have lagged. The show "was the most upscale comedy on any network this season," says Kevin Reilly, NBC's president of entertainment. "That's the type of product we want on our network."
What viewers with higher incomes watch on TV is becoming more important to the broadcast networks as they try to set themselves apart from the pack and sell their fall schedules to advertisers. The four primary broadcast networks -- ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC -- are finishing the season in one of the tightest ratings races ever. Last year, the networks finished with 1.4 ratings points separating them; this year they're running only 0.3 of a ratings point apart. To distinguish themselves to advertisers, broadcasters increasingly are touting how popular their shows are with moneyed viewers.
Networks can charge advertisers a premium for delivering wealthy viewers, since they are the hardest group to reach. High-income people tend to be light television watchers, and are also more likely to own ad-skipping devices such as TiVo. NBC, for example, has long played up the youth and wealth of its viewers, and charges advertisers a premium of 5% to 20% to reach them.
But with some of those affluent viewers defecting to shows on rival networks -- NBC has fallen from first place to fourth in the ratings race -- Walt Disney Co.'s ABC, Viacom Inc.'s CBS, and News Corp.'s Fox see an opportunity to reap a similar premium. Baiting wealthy types is also a strategy, some network ad executives say, to lure more luxury marketers to broadcast TV -- a popular medium for pitching shampoo and crackers, but not five-star hotels and private jets.
Adding to the upscale buzz: a new ability to measure high-income households. Nielsen Media Research historically has only offered statistics on viewers with household incomes of $75,000 or more. Since last year's main ad-selling process, Nielsen has started providing data on viewers who make more than $100,000 and viewers with incomes of more than $125,000. Nielsen says it started offering the service in response to demand from networks and because of the boom in luxury marketing in general.
Sorting out which shows are the most upscale is tricky, and a subject of some debate. That's because the networks cull ratings data that benefits them the most. NBC, for example, says its audience is the most upscale because its shows, including "The West Wing" and "The Apprentice," draw the highest percentage of high-income households. "Concentration is how most advertisers buy television," says Jeff Zucker, president of the NBC Universal Television Group.
Try telling that to ABC, which is promoting "Desperate Housewives" as the most upscale show on TV because it attracts the largest total number of affluent viewers ages 18 to 49, the group advertisers covet most. Fox notes that "American Idol" has a largely upscale audience using this same measurement.
CBS, meanwhile, says both ways are inaccurate. David Poltrack, executive vice president of research and planning at CBS, says the "key upscale audience" is adults ages 25 to 54 who live in households with income of $100,000 or above. He argues that including younger viewers in the mix, as rival networks do, skews the results because it includes a lot of college students who don't spend as much. By this measurement, CBS is tied with NBC for first place, and four CBS shows, including "Survivor" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," are ranked in the top 10.
Media buyers listen politely to the pitches. "The networks in general, and NBC in particular, have overused the word 'quality' to describe their audiences to such a degree that it doesn't mean much anymore," says Laura Caraccioli-Davis, a senior vice president at Starcom Entertainment, a Chicago ad-buying firm owned by Publicis Group SA.
"There is money going after this area, but overall television is not a very upscale marketplace," she adds. "The pool of TV advertisers seeking narrow, wealthy audiences is comparatively small." Ms. Caraccioli-Davis and other media buyers say that both concentration and total viewers are usually factored into spending plans, depending on the clients
Despite all the fuss over affluent viewers, TV programmers, who are in the process of unveiling their fall schedules to advertisers, say they don't necessarily select new fare based on how well they expect it to play in richer homes. "The goal is to develop the best shows you can that become broad hits," says Steve McPherson, ABC's president of entertainment.
What do rich people like to watch? "Nobody really knows," says Alan Wurtzel, NBC's president of research and media development, "but in general these viewers respond to high production values, sophisticated dialogue and story lines and a unique point of view."
NBC is hoping that's the case with its newly announced sitcom "My Name is Earl," about an uneducated crook who wins the lottery and sets about righting the wrongs he committed in the past. At first glance, the sitcom seemed to some media buyers an odd choice for a network that is focused so intently on delivering upscale viewers. But Mr. Wurtzel says wealthy viewers responded positively in tests to the "sophisticated humor" in the show. "These people get the joke," he says.
Mr. McPherson says there are ways to tweak a program to make it more appealing to wealthy viewers -- change the costumes, move the action to a ritzier setting, add a character with a pedigreed background -- but says "upscale is usually either in a show's DNA or it isn't." Tinkering with a show to make it skew more upscale is "a recipe for disaster," he says, because it can "ruin the overall creative product."
One example of a successful tweak that improved a show's upscale standing: After the first few seasons of NBC's drama "Law & Order," producers and writers slightly changed the focus from street criminals to more upper-class perpetrators. The thinking, according to a former producer on the show, was that upscale viewers could get more involved in the story lines if the defendants were more like them. "Law & Order," entering its sixteenth season, ranks No. 15 on NBC's ranking of most upscale shows.
Write to Brooks Barnes at brooks.barnes@wsj.com
Most-Watched Shows Among Viewers From Households With Income of $75,000
• From Dec 27, 2004 - May 1, 2005
Rank Program Network Viewers (in millions)
1 Desperate Housewives ABC 10.4
2 American Idol-Tuesday FOX 10.1
4 CSI CBS 8.8
3 American Idol-Wednesday FOX 9
6 Grey's Anatomy ABC 7.5
5 Survivor: Palau CBS 7.8
7 Apprentice 3 NBC 6.6
8 E.R. NBC 6.1
9 CSI: Miami CBS 6
10 Without A Trace CBS 5.8
Network Rankings Among Viewers Age 25-54 From Households With Income of $100,000
Network Rating* 2003-2004 Rating 2004-2005 % Change
CBS 4.8 5.2 8%
NBC 5.6 5.2 -7%
ABC 3.7 4.7 27%
FOX 3.3 3.3 No Change
Viewers Age 25-54 From Households With Income of $100,000
Program Rating* 2003-2004 Rating 2004-2005 % Change
Desperate Housewives NA 16 NA
American Idol NA 12.4 NA
CSI 11.7 12.3 5%
Apprentice 2 & 3 14.8 11.6 -22%
Grey's Anatomy NA 11 NA
E.R. 10.6 10 -6%
Survivor Palau & Vanuatu 9.3 9.8 5%
CSI: Miami 8.6 9 5%
Boston Legal NA 8.2 NA
Without A Trace 6.7 7.9 18%
Medium NA 7.9 NA
Two And A Half Men 7.5 7.7 3%
Lost NA 7.7 NA
NFL Monday Night Football 7.8 7.6 -3%
Law &Amp; Order 7.9 7.5 -5%
Everybody Loves Raymond 8.2 7.4 -10%
West Wing 7.8 7.4 -5%
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 4.4 7.3 66%
24 6 7.3 22%
Will & Grace 9.7 7.2 -26%
*A rating is the pecentage of all television households watching a specific station.
There are 110 million TV households in the U.S.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
By BROOKS BARNES
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
May 18, 2005; Page B1
The TV sitcom "The Office," a documentary-style parody of corporate life, will return to General Electric Co.'s NBC in September despite a weak ratings performance. NBC's "Committed" -- a higher-rated sitcom about two neurotic twentysomethings -- won't be back.
The primary reason: Rich people like "The Office." The sitcom ranks high in "concentration" of wealthy viewers, a measurement NBC prefers to use and which makes it look good in a year when its overall ratings have lagged. The show "was the most upscale comedy on any network this season," says Kevin Reilly, NBC's president of entertainment. "That's the type of product we want on our network."
What viewers with higher incomes watch on TV is becoming more important to the broadcast networks as they try to set themselves apart from the pack and sell their fall schedules to advertisers. The four primary broadcast networks -- ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC -- are finishing the season in one of the tightest ratings races ever. Last year, the networks finished with 1.4 ratings points separating them; this year they're running only 0.3 of a ratings point apart. To distinguish themselves to advertisers, broadcasters increasingly are touting how popular their shows are with moneyed viewers.
Networks can charge advertisers a premium for delivering wealthy viewers, since they are the hardest group to reach. High-income people tend to be light television watchers, and are also more likely to own ad-skipping devices such as TiVo. NBC, for example, has long played up the youth and wealth of its viewers, and charges advertisers a premium of 5% to 20% to reach them.
But with some of those affluent viewers defecting to shows on rival networks -- NBC has fallen from first place to fourth in the ratings race -- Walt Disney Co.'s ABC, Viacom Inc.'s CBS, and News Corp.'s Fox see an opportunity to reap a similar premium. Baiting wealthy types is also a strategy, some network ad executives say, to lure more luxury marketers to broadcast TV -- a popular medium for pitching shampoo and crackers, but not five-star hotels and private jets.
Adding to the upscale buzz: a new ability to measure high-income households. Nielsen Media Research historically has only offered statistics on viewers with household incomes of $75,000 or more. Since last year's main ad-selling process, Nielsen has started providing data on viewers who make more than $100,000 and viewers with incomes of more than $125,000. Nielsen says it started offering the service in response to demand from networks and because of the boom in luxury marketing in general.
Sorting out which shows are the most upscale is tricky, and a subject of some debate. That's because the networks cull ratings data that benefits them the most. NBC, for example, says its audience is the most upscale because its shows, including "The West Wing" and "The Apprentice," draw the highest percentage of high-income households. "Concentration is how most advertisers buy television," says Jeff Zucker, president of the NBC Universal Television Group.
Try telling that to ABC, which is promoting "Desperate Housewives" as the most upscale show on TV because it attracts the largest total number of affluent viewers ages 18 to 49, the group advertisers covet most. Fox notes that "American Idol" has a largely upscale audience using this same measurement.
CBS, meanwhile, says both ways are inaccurate. David Poltrack, executive vice president of research and planning at CBS, says the "key upscale audience" is adults ages 25 to 54 who live in households with income of $100,000 or above. He argues that including younger viewers in the mix, as rival networks do, skews the results because it includes a lot of college students who don't spend as much. By this measurement, CBS is tied with NBC for first place, and four CBS shows, including "Survivor" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," are ranked in the top 10.
Media buyers listen politely to the pitches. "The networks in general, and NBC in particular, have overused the word 'quality' to describe their audiences to such a degree that it doesn't mean much anymore," says Laura Caraccioli-Davis, a senior vice president at Starcom Entertainment, a Chicago ad-buying firm owned by Publicis Group SA.
"There is money going after this area, but overall television is not a very upscale marketplace," she adds. "The pool of TV advertisers seeking narrow, wealthy audiences is comparatively small." Ms. Caraccioli-Davis and other media buyers say that both concentration and total viewers are usually factored into spending plans, depending on the clients
Despite all the fuss over affluent viewers, TV programmers, who are in the process of unveiling their fall schedules to advertisers, say they don't necessarily select new fare based on how well they expect it to play in richer homes. "The goal is to develop the best shows you can that become broad hits," says Steve McPherson, ABC's president of entertainment.
What do rich people like to watch? "Nobody really knows," says Alan Wurtzel, NBC's president of research and media development, "but in general these viewers respond to high production values, sophisticated dialogue and story lines and a unique point of view."
NBC is hoping that's the case with its newly announced sitcom "My Name is Earl," about an uneducated crook who wins the lottery and sets about righting the wrongs he committed in the past. At first glance, the sitcom seemed to some media buyers an odd choice for a network that is focused so intently on delivering upscale viewers. But Mr. Wurtzel says wealthy viewers responded positively in tests to the "sophisticated humor" in the show. "These people get the joke," he says.
Mr. McPherson says there are ways to tweak a program to make it more appealing to wealthy viewers -- change the costumes, move the action to a ritzier setting, add a character with a pedigreed background -- but says "upscale is usually either in a show's DNA or it isn't." Tinkering with a show to make it skew more upscale is "a recipe for disaster," he says, because it can "ruin the overall creative product."
One example of a successful tweak that improved a show's upscale standing: After the first few seasons of NBC's drama "Law & Order," producers and writers slightly changed the focus from street criminals to more upper-class perpetrators. The thinking, according to a former producer on the show, was that upscale viewers could get more involved in the story lines if the defendants were more like them. "Law & Order," entering its sixteenth season, ranks No. 15 on NBC's ranking of most upscale shows.
Write to Brooks Barnes at brooks.barnes@wsj.com
Most-Watched Shows Among Viewers From Households With Income of $75,000
• From Dec 27, 2004 - May 1, 2005
Rank Program Network Viewers (in millions)
1 Desperate Housewives ABC 10.4
2 American Idol-Tuesday FOX 10.1
4 CSI CBS 8.8
3 American Idol-Wednesday FOX 9
6 Grey's Anatomy ABC 7.5
5 Survivor: Palau CBS 7.8
7 Apprentice 3 NBC 6.6
8 E.R. NBC 6.1
9 CSI: Miami CBS 6
10 Without A Trace CBS 5.8
Network Rankings Among Viewers Age 25-54 From Households With Income of $100,000
Network Rating* 2003-2004 Rating 2004-2005 % Change
CBS 4.8 5.2 8%
NBC 5.6 5.2 -7%
ABC 3.7 4.7 27%
FOX 3.3 3.3 No Change
Viewers Age 25-54 From Households With Income of $100,000
Program Rating* 2003-2004 Rating 2004-2005 % Change
Desperate Housewives NA 16 NA
American Idol NA 12.4 NA
CSI 11.7 12.3 5%
Apprentice 2 & 3 14.8 11.6 -22%
Grey's Anatomy NA 11 NA
E.R. 10.6 10 -6%
Survivor Palau & Vanuatu 9.3 9.8 5%
CSI: Miami 8.6 9 5%
Boston Legal NA 8.2 NA
Without A Trace 6.7 7.9 18%
Medium NA 7.9 NA
Two And A Half Men 7.5 7.7 3%
Lost NA 7.7 NA
NFL Monday Night Football 7.8 7.6 -3%
Law &Amp; Order 7.9 7.5 -5%
Everybody Loves Raymond 8.2 7.4 -10%
West Wing 7.8 7.4 -5%
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 4.4 7.3 66%
24 6 7.3 22%
Will & Grace 9.7 7.2 -26%
*A rating is the pecentage of all television households watching a specific station.
There are 110 million TV households in the U.S.
Source: Nielsen Media Research