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watch more primetime.
Study: Logging off to watch their favorite shows
By Kevin Downey
There’s been a long-held assumption that the home computer is eating away at television viewing time.
But it turns out that PC owners are actually watching more primetime TV than non-PC owners.
With the ongoing fragmentation of TV audiences, the home PC has represented one more obstacle for advertisers trying to get their message to a dwindling audience.
The PC presented an even bigger problem for those trying to reach affluent and tech-savvy consumers.
The results of a MediaVest Worldwide research analysis, however, show that media buys targeting adults 18-49 over-deliver PC owners in that age group by more than 10 percent compared to non-PC owners.
"This suggests that people 18-49 may be shunting their computer usage in favor of TV and using the computer later or earlier," says Mark Hudson, assistant media research director at MediaVest. "But they are definitely watching more primetime."
The research study, which was based in part on the X*Pert TV optimization system, shows that a network primetime schedule with 100 adult 18-49 rating points generates about 103 rating points among PC owners but only 93 for non-owners.
"There’s a lot of buzz in the industry that people who have a PC don’t watch TV and that time-spent is down," says Anna Marie Recco, vice president and associate media research director at MediaVest Worldwide.
"Even though the HUT level–households using TV–is slightly lower, [PC owners] are watching primetime and you are reaching more of them. It implies that they are sitting down and making the time to watch their shows."
It also implies a number of other things.
It’s probable, for example, that PC owners are more likely to be working professionals. That suggests that they may not be home during other times of the day and cram most of their viewing into primetime.
It also suggests that people who do not own PCs may be watching TV throughout the day and may place less importance on primetime viewing.
It certainly implies, though, that media buyers can more easily and less expensively reach non-PC owners.
Conversely, it requires more refined targeting to reach PC owners and that leads to the more expensive primetime daypart.
The MediaVest study further found that the big-four broadcast networks are more likely than either UPN or the WB to reach PC owners, which now account for 72 percent of homes with adults 18-49.
Primetime adult 18-49 ratings on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox are higher among PC owners than non-PC owners. Fox, in particular, over-delivers to the group with a 5.3 adult 18-49 rating among PC owners but only a 4.0 among those who do not own a PC.
The WB over-delivers to people without a PC and UPN’s average 2.0 rating is based on a 1.6 for PC owners but a 2.9 for non-PC owners.
Specific programs also do especially well among PC owners.
NBC’s "ER," for example, has an 11.4 adult 18-49 rating, based on Nielsen data through February, and ranks No. 2. Among PC owners, however, it gets a 13.6 and ranks No. 1, while among non-owners, its rating falls to an 8.4.
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PC HOMES |
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Target Rating Points - |
TRPs for A18-49 |
TRPs for A18-49 |
|
50 |
51.4 |
46.6 |
|
100 |
102.8 |
93.2 |
|
150 |
154.2 |
139.8 |
|
200 |
205.6 |
186.4 |
|
250 |
257.0 |
233.0 |
|
300 |
308.4 |
279.6 |
|
350 |
359.8 |
326.1 |
|
400 |
411.1 |
372.7 |
|
450 |
462.5 |
419.3 |
|
500 |
513.9 |
465.9 |
|
550 |
565.3 |
512.5 |
|
600 |
616.7 |
559.1 |
|
650 |
668.1 |
605.7 |
|
700 |
719.5 |
652.3 |
|
750 |
770.9 |
698.9 |
|
800 |
822.3 |
745.5 |
|
850 |
873.7 |
792.1 |
|
900 |
925.1 |
838.7 |
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Source: 2001 MediaVest based on X-Pert data |
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PC HOMES |
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Network |
Adults 18-49 |
A18-49 |
Index |
A18-49 |
Index |
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ABC |
4.8 |
4.8 |
100 |
4.6 |
96 |
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CBS |
3.9 |
4.0 |
103 |
3.7 |
95 |
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NBC |
4.6 |
4.7 |
102 |
4.3 |
93 |
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Fox |
5.0 |
5.3 |
106 |
4.0 |
80 |
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UPN |
2.0 |
1.6 |
80 |
2.9 |
145 |
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WB |
1.9 |
1.9 |
100 |
2.1 |
111 |
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Source: 2001 MediaVest based on Nielsen data |
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May 9, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.
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