InteracTiVoty: Can NBC Make Jay Leno TiVo-Proof? - Evan Young - MediaBizBlogger

The 2009 network Upfronts have come and gone One of the most talked about programming innovations was NBC39s decision to place Jay Leno at 10pm weeknights It39s easy to play armchair quarterback and examine the multiple reasons why NBC made this choice lower programming costs increased promotional and advertising opportunities difficulty competing against the 10pm programming on ABC and CBS etc The reason that caught our attention at TiVo of course was NBC39s intention to make the 10pm hour quotDVRproofquotIt has been welldocumented this year that the 9pm hour is the most competitive and oftrecorded with the multiple effects of depressing the 9pm live viewing rating because viewers watch one show and record another and depressing the 10pm live viewing rating because the recorded 9pm show is watched at 10pm 9pm weekdays is the hour in which most of the networks placed their most popular serialized dramas the nonreality quotwatercoolerquot shows 24 Lost Grey39s Anatomy Fringe Heroes The Mentalist amp8211 all 9pm showsNow imagine you are a reliable TV viewer with a DVR hopefully a TiVo DVR in Fall 2009 If you have the choice of watching your recorded 9pm quotwatercoolerquot show at 10pm the same evening or watching Jay Leno live at 10pm which show are you going to watch It depends I suppose on who Jay39s guests are that evening but even if I39m a Jay Leno fan I39m probably recording Jay at 10pm while I39m watching the recorded 9pm watercooler show After all I need at least 46 minutes to watch the watercooler show but depending on who Jay39s guests are I probably need less than 46 minutes to watch the parts of Jay39s show that I want to watch I can still be done by 11pm or maybe 1115pm Even if Jay has another Hugh Grant watercooler moment I39ll be able to watch it on my TiVo DVR If I forget to record Jay the clip will be on Hulucom andor posted to YouTubeNow I39m not saying that NBC won39t achieve some kind of success with Jay Leno at 10pm But in an age in which we are measuring live24hour live3day and live7day ratings anyway why try to beat the DVR A program needs to have enough promotion that it is picked up by its core audience demographic whatever you want to call it And then you need to put it in the place or nowadays multiple places where they are most likely to consume it If production values matter then hopefully that is the television in HD But the growing popularity of online venues for television such as Hulucom ABCcom and MySpace for viewing as well as the broadband viewing of shows on TiVo through our partners at Amazon Video On Demand and Netflix shows that viewers refuse to be shackled to the schedule or even to the broadcast delivery mechanismSome broadcasters are beginning to take this into account FOX made the somewhat surprising but also heartening decision to renew Dollhouse by including DVR and online viewing in its evaluation Now FOX still has the challenge of figuring out how to make the revenues follow in nonbroadcast outlets but it39s getting a head start in terms of revaluing its viewers39 behavior By 2012 there will be more than 50 DVR penetration in US TV households Viewers under 30 are watching more video online than on TV The networks should get comfortable with viewing during times and places other than the original broadcast because soon more than half of viewers will be doing thatIn a way the traditional broadcast networks have something to learn from basic cable about the definition for success Shows such as The Closer TNT Burn Notice USA Mad Men AMC and Damages FX are repeated often in the week of their initial airing This has the benefit of working as a quotpoorman39sDVRquot for households that don39t have one as well as providing additional advertising opportunities as opposed to just a single broadcast Shows are given time to develop and find their audience as opposed to being cancelled after a couple episodes if they don39t perform Of course the cable networks have a different cost structure they don39t all have to worry about affiliates news divisions or programming 50 hours a week of original shows But they have also learned that you can39t depend on the live rating for a single showing Wednesday night at 9pm to justify the existence of a programWhat we39ve learned at TiVo through both our DVR and broadband downloadstreaming efforts is that TiVo viewers are passionate about their shows and they will watch them in whatever way best suits them live recorded downloaded or streamed They make the time to follow a show like Dollhouse even if that show is on Fridays at 9pm when the core demographic for that show is likely to be out of the house And now that shows are available for download and streaming they will pay to watch episodes of shows they39ve missed or to start new shows that have gotten good word of mouth from the beginning Surely those nonlive views should count for somethingEvan Young is Director of Broadband Services at TiVo IncRead all Evanamp8217s 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InteracTiVoty: Can NBC Make Jay Leno TiVo-Proof? - Evan Young - MediaBizBlogger

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