Simulmedia: Risks and Rewards of Channel Line-up Placement - Jeff Storan - MediaBizBlogger

Ed Martin39s full live coverage from the Television Critics Association tour is available exclusively to corporate subscribers of the Jack Myers Media Business Report For more information visit wwwmyersreportcomCome this August Time Warner Cable is shuffling its channel lineup for New York City customersThe changes raise the question of whether channel placement has an effect on ratings Do stations gain an advantage from having a lower channel number or are channel choices so diverse and complicated to begin with that channel placement doesn39t matterRadio stations have long understood the value of being in the quotmiddle of the dialquot but it is less clear whether such an effect also exists in television Our initial findings are ambiguouschannel location seems to matter in certain instances but not in othersSeveral networks have negotiated successfully for more favorable placement For example Discovery and Discovery Kids are moving from the programming guide39s figurative continental shelf of the 10039s into adjacent spots in the shallow waters of the low 2039sOther networks are making room for the next cohort of highbidders CNN is vacating its spot for FX at the broadcastlike channel 10 and moving down to channel 78For the majority of Time Warner Cable subscribers who don39t follow cable trade press the lineup shuffle will come as a surprise Those unprepared viewers looking for Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network and plugging the familiar two 239s into their remote controls are likely to experience a disruption to their leanback experience upon finding Discovery Kids on their screensIf the accidental viewer finds herself ensnared in Discovery Kids programming and takes in a commercial pod or two the network may count this disruption as a happy accident And if the accidental viewer falls fast for the Discovery Networks39 brand and returns to its channels enough to be considered a loyal viewer then the happy accident becomes part of the justification for working with the cable operator for a lower channel numberThe question is how many of these happy accidents can a network expect to gain with a lower channel number and to lose with a higher channel number Set top box data can help answer the questionThe figures below show how audiences with similar affinities for program genres tune in to the same program when the program appears in different places in the channel lineup Each figure identifies the Genre Segment analyzed the network the program the date range and whether new or all episodes were considered It includes a table with the neighborhood headend the channel number the average rating for the program at that channel number and a box plot to illustrate the variability around the average ratingFor Bravo39s quotThe Fashion Showquot the effect of the lower channel number on ratings is unambiguous and positive The Reality Watchers the subset of all viewers who have demonstrated a proclivity for unscripted television tune in at different rates depending on where Bravo appears in the channel lineup In Malibu where Bravo appears at channel 42 new episodes of quotThe Fashion Showquot score an average rating of 46 among the Reality Watchers In Riverside where Bravo appears at channel 135 the same episodes receive an average rating of 10 among the same audienceFor USA39s longer running and critically acclaimed quotPsychquot the effect of channel lineup placement is harder to detect The Remote Detectives the subset of viewers with a demonstrated preference for crime dramas tune in to new episodes of quotPsychquot at almost the same rate in Monterey Park where USA is located at channel 8 and in Riverside where USA is located at channel 60Finally for CNN39s Larry King lower channel numbers have a positive effect on ratings except in Malibu which has both the highest channel number at 70 and ratings among the highest in the country Fake News Followers the subset of viewers with an affinity for sarcastic news programming that carries over to the real news tune in to Larry King at higher rates in Monterey Park where CNN is located at channel 10 than in Riverside and Longbeach where CNN is located at channels 48 and 61 respectivelyJeff Storan is a digital marketing veteran and product strategist for Simulmedia and can be reached at jeffsimulmediacom Read all Jeff39s MediaBizBlogger commentaries at Simulmedia MediaBizBlogger

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Simulmedia: Risks and Rewards of Channel Line-up Placement - Jeff Storan - MediaBizBlogger

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Simulmedia: Risks and Rewards of Channel Line-up Placement - Jeff Storan - MediaBizBlogger

Jeff Storan

"About That with Carl Mayer:" Alaina Donnellon (Episode 6) - By Carl Mayer

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