Television as a Business 1-27-14

Television Ratings The TV business is dependent upon ratings. TV ratings are estimates of how many people, and what kind of people are watch a television show at a given time. Ratings are used to sell advertising.

How do they know who’s watching? A company called Nielsen is who gathers the rating information. They look for volunteers to keep television diaries, or detailed records of what they and their families watch. The can also install a set meter in the people’s homes that keep a record of what they are watching.

Nielsen Ratings for the week of 7/31 http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/top10s.html http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/top10s.html

Criticism of Nielsen The sample size is very small The representative sample aren’t always perfect People aren’t always complete honest when filling out the diaries. People don’t always write down everything they are watch, because they forget The set meters malfunction Nielsen only measures TV watching in the home and not public places.

Not all Eyeballs are created equal Nielsen doesn’t just measure the number of people watching, the measure what kind of people are watching. The TV industry wants to attract the kinds of eyeballs that are attached to people who make the most sense in terms of earning a profit.

Age The TV industry prefers programs that are geared toward younger people. There is often a lack of programs that are geared toward older people and lack of older people who appear on TV.

Gender Women are considered the most valuable group because they tend to do the most shopping, especially for everyday household goods. However, advertisers include men by marketing certain kinds of goods, including cars, razors, and electronics.

Race From a purely economic standpoint, it makes more sense to have programming that is targeted to white people and that contains white characters.

Nielsen http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/top10s.html Answer the following questions. When you look at the top rated programs in "broadcast" and "cable," how many of these programs do you think are targeted to people over fifty? When you look at the top rated programs in "broadcast" and "cable," how many of these programs do you think are targeted to people who are racial minorities? Compare and contrast the African-American top programs with the overall top programs. How are they similar and different?

Minimizing the Risk The most important principle in the television industry is this: minimizing the risk. In the television business, this means decreasing the chances that television shows will lose money by not earning enough ratings. Because television is very expensive to produce, television producers stand to lose quite a bit if a program is not successful.

Minimizing the Risk Strategies Here are some of the strategies television producers use to minimize the risk: Reliance on genres Copies Spin-offs Syndication The international market Use of cheaper formats Scheduling strategies

Genres In television, genre refers to types of TV shows, or categories of programming that are defined by certain types of characters, plots, aesthetics, and other common elements.

Copies In the television business, a "copy" refers to a television show that's very similar to one that's already been a success. Innovative ideas for new TV shows commonly are passed by for copies. Often copies feature slight variations from the original, which are used to market the show.

Spin-offs TV shows that feature a character that appeared on an already successful TV show are known as a spinoff. Spinoffs often are huge successes (like Frasier, which was a spinoff of Cheers and ran for eleven seasons), but more often don't do as well as expected (like Joey, a spinoff of Friends that only lasted two seasons)

Syndication One of the most profitable ways that television makes money is through syndication. In television, syndication refers to a program that isn't affiliated with a particular network, but rather is "rented out" by networks. Many shows go into syndication after they've gone off the air, or after they've been on the air for a long time

International Market TV shows can make money if they hit it big with the international market. Just like syndication, this is a way for TV shows to continue to earn money without having to produce a new, expensive show.

Use of Cheaper Formats Why is there so much reality TV on the air? Part of this is because people keep watching it. Part of it is because reality TV is much cheaper to make than sitcoms, dramas, and other kinds of TV. Reality TV rarely employs actors who need to be paid thousands or even millions of dollars, and these shows can be produced with relatively small staffs.

Scheduling Strategies Another important part of the television business involves the scheduling of TV programs. Television stations use strategies to attract and keep viewers, such as: Block programming: Placing a number of programs on the air, one after another, that have related themes and the same target audience, in hopes that the audience will keep watching Hammocking: Placing a new or struggling program between two that are already popular Tentpoling: Placing a strong show between two weaker ones Stripping: Placing shows at the same time everyday so people will get into the habit of watching them Repetition: Showing a long run of episodes (such as an America's Next Top Model marathon)

Review Questions Which of the following techniques is used by the Nielsen company to measure ratings? Set meters Tentpoling Syndication All of the above

Review Questions Which of the following techniques is used by the Nielsen company to measure ratings? Set meters Tentpoling Syndication All of the above

Review Questions From the television industry's point of view, which of the following would be the most desirable viewer? An 80-year-old white man A 20-year-old white woman A 30-year-old African-American woman A 50-year-old African American man

Review Questions From the television industry's point of view, which of the following would be the most desirable viewer? An 80-year-old white man A 20-year-old white woman A 30-year-old African-American woman A 50-year-old African American man