It's no longer enough to look simply at ratings when judging the worth of a TV show. That's only part of it. A lot of other factors come into play, and now Publicis-owned agency Optimedia has set about to factor those in to determine a show's true popularity with viewers. A new study ranks the reach and power of broadcast programs based on viewership and buzz across digital and traditional media, and it comes up with some surprising results. "Gossip Girl," the CW show that ranks a mere 115th in TV ratings this season, ranks No. 15 on Optimedia's content power ratings, higher than hits with much bigger TV audiences like ABC's "Private Practice" and CBS's "CSI: NY." Networks are starting to pay more attention to this broader potential audience. Tellingly, "Gossip" has been renewed for another season. Other shows that shot up in content power ratings include NBC's "30 Rock" and "Friday Night Lights," which rank in the 80s for TV and in the top 20 for Optimedia. Greg Kahn, senior vice president and director of strategic resources for Optimedia, talks to Media Life about why such new ways of looking at ratings are crucial to media people, what types of shows rate highly, and why networks are taking the trends into account for the upfront.

What was the idea behind doing this report?

There were a number of reasons why we decided to do the report.

Over the past couple of years there have been more and more conversations about digital extensions, without anyway to quantify that. As we approach the upfront, new media’s being discussed more than in previous years. And the writers’ strike was happening, where one big issue was new media. There was concern viewers were leaving the traditional space.

A lot of the editorial in the past has been about declining ratings, but we felt there needed to be a positive story. Viewers are viewing in different ways. We wanted to make sure that we were encompassing viewership on all platforms, including the ones to which viewers are migrating to.

We weren’t just thinking of audience size but also audience appeal and interest. So we’re also trying to capture the true value of these programs in the marketplace, on size, appeal and interest.

What did you find most interesting or most surprising?

A lot of it confirmed our suspicions. The popularity of “American Idol” and “Dancing with the Stars” were not shocks to us, nor were “Grey’s Anatomy,” “CSI.” Their TV ratings speak for themselves.
 
The interesting spotlight for us were shows like “30 Rock,” “The Office” and “Friday Night Lights” that have critical acclaim, and it turns out they have tight, engaged, passionate fan bases as well.

These are shows that every year there’s speculation on whether they’ll be renewed, based on ratings. Again, the thought we had was these are great properties.

You’re seeing more and more where executives are looking to other sources in deciding whether to renew a show, to let it breathe or not.

If a show isn’t doing as well on TV, maybe there’s a way to cultivate it through another medium, and then possibly get some bounce back on the TV side.

What does the content power ratings report mean for media buyers and planners?

It’s a new way we’re going to look at integrated deals. We need to move beyond just traditional television ratings. Last year was all about C3 ratings, but I don’t know if anyone ever figured out what that was.

Hopefully we’ll move into new metrics that allow us to include these other factors.
 

What characteristics do some shows that rank highly in content power ratings share?

There were three kinds of programs that tended to rank highest.

One are reality shows with formats that have weekly vote-offs. Two are serialized dramas that have heavy plot elements, or cliffhanger elements, that keep people coming back.

The third is smart comedies like “30 Rock” and “The Office.” They do well with critics and with intellectual audiences, but they don’t necessarily see the broader TV reach as some other shows.

Why can looking at TV-only ratings be so misleading for the popularity of shows like the CW's "Gossip Girl" and NBC's "30 Rock?"

Because again, that core passionate base that’s talking about it over and over again is not captured by those TV-only ratings. A show like “30 Rock” doesn’t do great in the ratings but has won many awards in the industry, and everybody’s talking about it.

The other reason is that the online audiences we’re seeing for both shows are higher than for some of the traditional ones. That’s not necessarily surprising; if people are engaged with other media, they’re more likely to watch on that media.
 

What shows are seeing the most buzz in terms of online, mobile, PR, generated word-of- mouth, and the strength of their appeal to their core audience?

I would say for online it’s “Gossip Girl,” “The Office” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” In mobile, we’re seeing strong numbers from a lot of Discovery and NBC shows. And from a PR perspective, “American Idol” is far and away the top, and also “Dancing with the Stars” and “CSI.”

Then you have a show like “The Simpsons,” which does well in PR placement, but part of that was also tied to the movie release.

How much more pervasive will those factors become in shaping opinions of shows in coming years? How much has their influence grown in just the past two years?

Much much more pervasive. Shows like “quarterlife,” which was developed online then put on TV, didn’t work, but it’s a part of a trend.

We don’t live in an environment anymore where people are just watching TV as a stand-alone, so we have to stop talking about that. We’re really looking at all these other factors and evaluating.
 

That said, why has the industry been slower than viewers to look at some of these factors? Is it just because ratings have traditionally been how TV is measured?

I think that tradition is part of it, and to be fair it’s a very complicated industry to keep up with. It works best when there’s one standardized metric, but consumers have taken a different direction and the industry just hasn’t caught up yet.

I know there are a lot of intelligent people that are trying to tackle the problem.

In our industry we buy and sell every day, so we have to move at warp speed.

Do you think this will eventually result in changes to how shows are evaluated by media people?

I think so.

Based on the initial response, I think it’s a step in the right direction. I think ultimately, whether they adopt these specific attributes or not, people will start to talk about media and commercial value across multiple distribution platforms, and not look at them in silos.

Are networks taking these factors into account as they ready their new schedules?

Yes and no.

They all have initiatives underway to incorporate new media. Each network has a slightly different strategy as it approaches the upfront. There was a debate on if it would even take place this year, but now that it is, I think we’re all waiting to see what it all means.

But I certainly think they are, in terms of development at the outset. They’re thinking of ways to distribute and seed online conversation about these shows, which adds to the marketability.