source: Sydney Morning Herald 12 March, 2010

There’s been a decided shift in television viewing numbers already in 2010 and it seems to be a nationwide trend. Here in Newcastle we have been intrigued by the difference in audience numbers this year compared to the same time last year.

So far there seems to be an average of 20,000 less viewers per top 10 program than for the corresponding week in 2009. For example the #1 program in Newcastle for week 10, 2010 was The Mentalist with 84,000 viewers. The #5 program was NBN  Saturday News with 67,000 viewers and the #10 program was Talkin’ Bout Your Generation on SC TEN with 55,000 viewers.

IN 2009 for the week ending 3 March (corresponding week) here are the numbers: #1 Underbelly on NBN with 124,000 viewers, #5 RSPCA Animal Rescue on Prime with 86,000 viewers and #10 CSI on NBN with 75,000 viewers. Of course, Underbelly is a standout ratings winner but the #1 program last week had less viewers than the #5 program last year.

As you can see there are about 20,000 less viewers for the main Free-to-Air channels. And this is happening every week.

Now the national media are picking up on the trend. The rest of this post is taken from today’s Sydney Morning Herald.

Too soon to judge digital effects: networks by Julian Lee

FREE-TO-AIR networks are calling on advertisers to cut them some slack over figures that appear to confirm fears audiences of their primary channels are being significantly cannibalised by new digital channels.

Some media buyers are delaying judgement on the double-digit falls in audiences for Seven, Nine and Ten’s main channels until after Easter, when they will have at least nine weeks of this ratings period to review.
They say a change in the make-up of the audience measurement panel to include time-shifted viewing, the launch last year of three digital channels and events such as the Olympics mean comparisons between this year and last cannot be made.

But one senior media buyer said the underlying trends could not be ignored and the level of cannibalisation of audiences by the new channels-One HD, GO! and Seven Two-was obvious as it was worrying.

The chief strategy officer with Mediacom, Mat Baxter, said: “You can look at the hero assets of those networks and draw some conclusions… that the jewel in everybody’s crown is no longer as shiny.

“The question is will the sparkle reappear in the [viewing of multi-channels] to the degree that is necessary for them to protect their total audience and therefore their revenues. I would say probably not but … I am more than happy to modify my view as more data comes through.”

He said waiting until Easter meant media buyers were almost a quarter of the way through the year before reaching a conclusion.

The chief sales and digital officer of Seven Media Group, James Warburton, acknowledged “an element of cannibalisation within our core station” but said total audience across his two channels was up.

Seven’s audience rose 5.5 per cent across Seven and Seven Two in the key demographic of 25 – 54-year-olds between 6pm and 10:30pm in the first 10 weeks of this year. But the audience for Seven’s main channel fell by 5.7 per cent.

Mr Warburton said it was too early to determine the impact of panel changes, digital channels and anomalies created by sporting events such as the cricket, which ran later than usual, and the Olympic Games in Vancouver.

“The industry needs to get its head around multichannels first, and then time-shifted viewing second. It will take time for the industry to get a strong view on it. When things are new there’s a little bit of a cut-off but it will iron out and then everyone will make the right decisions.”

Ten decline to comment and Nine’s sales and marketing director Peter Wiltshire, did not return calls.

The OMD managing partner Peter Horgan said that “given the multitude of variables” his agency was waiting until after Easter before forming a view.

The investment director of Universal McCann, Victor Corones, said his agency was taking time to “understand the implications of the changes in the composition of the panel”.

But pay TV operatives say the excuses are a smokescreen. Anthony Fitzgerald, chief executive of Foxtel’s sales house MCN, acknowledged the fundamental changes in the TV landscape, but said: “The fact that the main channels are down an average of 13 per cent is a clear indication of cannibalisation. In my view audiences would not be down to anywhere near that degree if they hadn’t launched those channels, where 90 per cent of all multichannel viewing comes from free-to-air homes that do not have pay TV. These are the facts.”

Source: The Spy Report

Newcastle viewers love their digital channels, according to the first official release of channel viewing habits released this week.

GO!88, a part of the NBN/Nine Network, is Newcastle and the Hunter’s favourite channel, followed by ABC2 and Prime’s 7Two, while Southern Cross Ten sports channel One is the least watched.

The biggest nights for digital viewing in the Hunter are Thursday, Friday and Saturday, when the new channels account for as much as 10 per cent of viewing between them.

The reruns line-up of Get Smart, Hogan’s Heroes, Seinfeld and a movie on GO! snared 4.6 per cent of all Saturday night viewers in week three.

Prime TV network program manager Trevor Clarke has told The Newcastle Herald programs on digital channels were generally chosen to avoid cannibalising the ratings of main channels.

“If the program scheduled on Prime is attracting a mainly over-35 female audience, then our 7Two program will be targeted to young males, or vice versa,” Mr Clarke said.

“7Two is carefully scheduling programs like Ugly Betty to support what is happening on Prime, not to compete with it.”

Digital channels across the Hunter have attracted a combined 6.7% share, just behind SBS ONE on 7.4.

Source: The Newcastle Herald – James Joyce

Home-style cooking, home-made crimes and daggy old variety television were the flavours of the TV year in Newcastle and viewers can expect more of the same in 2010.

The official 2009 ratings survey finished at the weekend with NBN holding on to its crown as Newcastle’s No.1 station.

NBN’s nightly news bulletins, rugby league telecasts and crime drama Underbelly 2: A Tale of Two Cities made it a clear winner in its home market, capturing 32.9 per cent of prime-time viewers.

Two reunion episodes of Hey Hey It’s Saturday also boosted the Nine Network owned station. The Daryl Somers comeback shows drew more than 97,000 viewers each to most-watched programs.

But the hottest new show of the year was dished up by Southern Cross Ten. Kitchen contest MasterChef Australia helped make third-ranked Ten Newcastle’s most improved station in 2009, with a 20.3 per cent audience share (up 1.5 percentage points).

The biggest loser was second-placed Prime, which saw its share of the Newcastle audience go backwards (down 3.8 points to 20.6 per cent) despite feeder network Seven winning the No.1 ranking nationally for the third consecutive year.

According to national OzTAM data, Seven won the 2009 ratings race with 28.8 per cent of viewing between 6pm and midnight, followed by Nine with a 26.8 per cent share, Ten with 22.2, ABC1 16.4 and SBS 5.8.

Newcastle ratings data showed viewers in the region watched more ABC1 (with 19.1 per cent share) and SBS (7.2) that capital city viewers.

The highest-rating regular show was Underbelly 2 starring Matt Newton. The underworld drama averaged more than 124,000 Newcastle viewers and was the only regular show to average more than 2million viewers nationally. A third series, Underbelly 3: The Golden Mile, is in production for next year.

Ten had two of the year’s top new programs, in MasterChef Australia and Shaun Miscallef comedy quiz Talkin” Bout Your Generation.

NBN chief executive Deborah Wright said her station’s result showed that regional viewers preferred local and Australian content.

Another highlight of the year was the outstanding performance of the NRL with the region’s most watched program this year being the NRL final, with 389,000 viewers.

OUR FAVOURITE SHOWS IN 2009

TOP PROGRAMS OVERALL IN NEWCASTLE

2009 AUDIENCE SHARES*

* Pecentages (2008 in brackets)
(Source: Regional TAM/AGB Nielsen Media Research) 8/2/2009-28/11/09 (Excluding Easter Non-Ratings Weeks)

 The Newcastle TV Ratings, week ending November 21

Note: These ratings results are compiled using the combined resources of SC TEN, NBN & Prime’s weekly AGB Nielsen Media Research reports.

All the stations ratings seem to stay on a constant plateau, except SC TEN. Why is that? What is this station doing right or wrong each week that it’s ratings are like a yo-yo?

NBN keeps a steady win in the 30′s, Prime a consecutive 2nd place around the 20′s, but what about SC TEN? This station, every week, keeps rising and falling around the high teens.

Where do you keep disappearing to SC TEN?

Check out who made the Top Ten Most Watched Programs for last week. 

What We Watched:

1 NBN Evening News Monday to Friday NBN 95000

2 Packed To The Rafters PRIME 91000

3 Two And A Half Men NBN 87000

4 20 to 1 NBN 86000

5 NBN Evening News Sunday NBN 83000

6 NBN Evening News Saturday NBN 75000

7 The Big Bang Theory NBN 72000

8 A Current Affair NBN 69000

9 Last Chance Surgery PRIME 69000

10 60 Minutes NBN 66000

 The Stations Ratings:

The Newcastle TV Ratings, week ending November 14

Note: These ratings results are compiled using the combined resources of SC TEN, NBN & Prime’s weekly AGB Nielsen Media Research reports.

Apart from looking at the Ratings flogging that NBN gives each station every week; let’s look towards the Most Watched Programs instead. ‘Oh wait’, they’re identical in the beating that NBN gives as well.

Every week NBN rules this Ratings Roost, so instead of ignoring the consecutive winner, lets have a look at what and why this station must take out that winner spot every week.

Check out what we are watching and how they rate. 

What We Watched:

1 Packed To The Rafters PRIME 97000

2 Getaway NBN 84000

3 NBN Evening News Monday to Friday NBN 83000

4 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation NBN 81000

5 The Mentalist NBN 79000

6 60 Minutes NBN 78000

7 A Current Affair NBN 75000

8 NBN Evening News Sunday NBN 74000

9 The Big Bang Theory NBN 72000

10 20 to 1 NBN 72000

The Stations Ratings:

The Newcastle TV Ratings, week ending November 6

Note: These ratings results are compiled using the combined resources of SC TEN, NBN & Prime’s weekly AGB Nielsen Media Research reports.

Last weeks ratings were nothing Shocking compared to every other week.

With 110,00 Novacastrians plastered (so to speak) to ‘The 2009 Melbourne Cup’, some thought Prime may have had some winning hope. However, like a perfectly constructed Crime Scene, NBN took it out again with a 31.3% win over Prime’s 22.6% second place. SC TEN managed to secure 3rd place again with 19.3% over ABC’s 18.7%.

Read on to see the finish line results…

What We Watched:

1 The 2009 Melbourne Cup Carnival PRIME 111000

2 NBN Evening News Sunday NBN 82000

3 60 Minutes NBN 79000

4 Packed To The Rafters PRIME 77000

5 The Big Bang Theory NBN 73000

6 NBN Evening News Saturday NBN 72000

7 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation NBN 68000

8 Getaway NBN 67000

9 NBN Evening News Monday to Friday NBN 67000

10 Midsomer Murders ABC 66000

The Stations Ratings:

Week 45 2009 Week 45 2008 Prog 2009 Prog 2008
NBN             31.3                29.1              33.0            33.1
PRIME          22.6                24.7             20.5             24.5
TEN             19.3                19.8              20.3             18.7
ABC             18.7               19.6              18.1             17.1
SBS              7.5                 6.8                6.8               6.4

The Newcastle TV Ratings, week ending October 31

Note: These ratings results are compiled using the combined resources of SC TEN, NBN & Prime’s weekly AGB Nielsen Media Research reports.

This week sees NBN fall nearly 3% in it’s viewing audience. Prime increased by 1.7% and SC TEN by 0.7%.

Last week the Hunter enjoyed ABC’s ‘Midsomer Murders’ more than the weekly NBN News.

Prime & SC TEN also managed to get two programs each, up on the ‘Most Watched’ leader board.

Read on for the full results…

What Newcastle Watched:

1 NBN Evening News Sunday NBN 116000

2 Midsomer Murders ABC 87000

3 NBN Evening News Monday to Friday NBN 84000

4 RSPCA Animal Rescue PRIME 83000

5 Packed To The Rafters PRIME 81000

6 NCIS TEN 79000

7 60 Minutes NBN 79000

8 A Current Affair NBN 77000

9 The Simpsons Tues TEN 74000

10 The Big Bang Theory NBN 71000

Stations Ratings:

       Week 44-2009 Week 44-2008 Prog-2009 Prog-2008
NBN              31.9              30.8              33.0          33.1
PRIME           23.0              26.4              20.4          24.5
TEN              20.9              19.1              20.3          18.7
ABC             18.4              17.5              18.1          17.1
SBS              5.6                6.3               6.8             6.4

The Newcastle TV Ratings, week ending October 24

Note: These ratings results are compiled using the combined resources of SC TEN, NBN & Prime’s weekly AGB Nielsen Media Research reports.

SC TEN this week is back on its game, reclaiming 3rd position on the ratings score board.

Although this week if it wasn’t for ‘Packed to the Rafters’ giving Prime a nice slice of an 85,000 viewing audience, it would have been in deep trouble. SC TEN just missed out on 2nd place by 1.1%!

What would happen I wonder without Prime’s favourite family?

What We Watched:

1 NBN Evening News Sunday NBN 107000

2 NBN Evening News Monday to Friday NBN 92000

3 Packed To The Rafters PRIME 85000

4 NBN Evening News Saturday NBN 84000

5 20 to 1 NBN 82000

6 Spicks & Specks ABC 76000

7 Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader TEN 71000

8 60 Minutes NBN 71000

9 A Current Affair NBN 70000

10 The Mentalist NBN 66000

The Stations Ratings:

Week 43-2009 Week 43-2008 Prog-2009 Prog-2008
NBN              34.7                30.8               33.0             33.1
PRIME           21.3                26.4               20.4             24.4
TEN              20.2                 19.1               20.3             18.7
ABC             17.8                 17.5               18.1             17.1
SBS              5.6                  6.3                 6.8               6.4

The Newcastle TV Ratings, week ending October 17

Note: These ratings results are compiled using the combined resources of SC TEN, NBN & Prime’s weekly AGB Nielsen Media Research reports.

This week let’s not even start with NBN and PRIME in their usual 1st (31.7%) and 2nd (25.1%) positions in the Ratings.

Lets look at 3rd and 4th. Who took it out this week? With only the average scores scraping 18% audience share.

ABC ruled the roost to beat SC TEN again this week. It has been an up & down struggle between these two channels of late, but ABC took it out. Mind you they both couldn’t pull the numbers to make the Top Ten Programs watched this week.

Interesting though, ABC, has always kept a consistent average viewing percentage over the years (oldie but a goodie). However, SC TEN this time last year was in the 20% range and continues to roll-a-coaster through the ratings this year.

What We Watched:

1 NBN Evening News Sunday NBN 107000

2 Packed To The Rafters PRIME 97000

3 NBN Evening News Monday to Friday NBN 88000

4 60 Minutes NBN 83000

5 20 to 1 NBN 81000

6 Seven’s V8 Supercars Round 10:Bathurst D3 The Race PRIME 75000

7 M – Wild Hogs PRIME 74000

8 Getaway NBN 73000

9 A Current Affair NBN 66000

10 20 to 1 Rpt NBN 65000

The Stations Ratings:         

          Week 42 2009 Week 42 2008 Prog 2009 Prog 2008
NBN             31.7                31.6              33.0             33.2
PRIME          25.1                23.5              20.3             24.4
TEN             18.3                20.4               20.3             18.7
ABC            18.9                18.2               18.2             17.1
SBS             6.1                  6.4                6.8               6.4

The Newcastle TV Ratings, week ending October 10

Note: These ratings results are compiled using the combined resources of SC TEN, NBN & Prime’s weekly AGB Nielsen Media Research reports.

Huge numbers this week for the Newcastle ratings. No surprise why, as the footy finals were on.

The NBN Grand Final coverage pulled in an outstanding 176,000 viewers, just for the one game. Mind you the Grand Final Presentation clocked up a large 122,000 viewers and even the Grand Final Entertainment for the night, “entertained” 109,000 people.

The top non-football show was Hey Hey’s controversial episode pulling in around 98,000. Then standard weekly shows and numbers follow through with the rest.

NBN averaged 36.2% for first place; Prime came up short with 21.0% for second place, ABC once again beat SC TEN with an average 19.9%. Where were you this week SC TEN only managing to accumulate 16.5% viewing audience?

See full results.

Most Watched Programs:

1 Rugby League Grand Final NBN 176000

2 Rugby League Grand Final Presentation NBN 122000

3 Rugby League Grand Final Entertainment NBN 109000

4 Hey Hey Reunion Ep 2 NBN 98000

5 NBN Evening News Monday to Friday NBN 91000

6 NBN Evening News Saturday NBN 90000

7 Packed To The Rafters PRIME 89000

8 A Current Affair NBN 85000

9 RSPCA Animal Rescue PRIME 75000

10 Midsomer Murders ABC 74000

Stations Ratings:

Week 41 2009 Week 41 2008  Prog 2009  Prog 2008
NBN             36.2               30.3                 33.0             33.2
PRIME          21.0               27.4                 20.2             24.4
TEN             16.5               18.4                 20.4              18.6
ABC             19.9               17.9                 18.2              17.1
SBS             6.0                 6.3                   6.9                6.4