I thought I would share today with readers a little more insight into how networks like to spin their ratings successes with media.
No judgment, it’s their job to point out the positives, but you sure do need to be alert to the tricks of the trade to make sense of it all….
For instance last night Seven, Nine and 10 all had victories at 7:30pm timeslot, according to their releases today. But the devil is in the detail.
Dream Home: #1 entertainment program in total TV, reaches 1.36 million
MasterChef Australia #1 in its 7.30pm timeslot with resounding shares.
Do You Want To Live Forever … winning the timeslot with Total People in Sydney and Brisbane and winning the timeslot with People 25-54 in Sydney.
This is fairly typical of the info networks send on a daily basis, so you wouldn’t want to be a rookie journo trying to write up the results.
Seven includes Reach and National TV Audience (which is the average including BVOD).
Nine includes Reach and National TV Audience, plus metro, regional and BVOD breakouts.
10 includes Reach, Demos, commercial share, live streaming and BVOD.
But they are also selective about which shows they highlight.
For instance 10 gives a wealth of numbers for Have You Been Paying Attention? and MasterChef Australia, but no so much for other primetime.
Similarly neither Seven nor Nine broke out any numbers beyond 7:30 shows last night because they trailed 10 badly from 8:30 with US acquisitions.
Determining a timeslot winner is tricky business these days, with few shows actually running head to head in identical timeslots. There are 30, 60, 70 minute shows and variations around it.
So a network might claim to win a timeslot based on the fact it was the only show running, say 7:30 – 8:52pm.
You can also win based on Reach, but not the average. If you’re really extra creative you can even win by how you determine the show genre.
Last night, according to OzTAM ABC’s 7:30 had the highest average audience at 7:30pm of 734,00 viewers.
But the show only runs 30 minutes so that makes it harder to compare with Dream Home at 701,000, MasterChef Australia 689,000 and Do You Want to Live Forever? 637,000.
But in the game of TV spin you can make anyone a winner….