Syndie Rookies Pull in Big Ad Revenues
Dr. Phil, Will & Grace hit syndication ground running
By Steve McClellan -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/23/2003 7:00:00 PM
Will & Grace, a staple of NBC's Thursday-night lineup and one of the big new off-network sitcoms to debut in syndication this season, hit the barter-revenue jackpot in the fourth quarter of 2002. Boosted by double runs and 90 seconds of national ad time per episode, the sitcom was the biggest ad-revenue generator of all the new shows launched in syndication last fall, with some $21.6 million in ad revenue, according to estimates provided by Nielsen Media Research's Monitor-Plus ad-tracking service.
| Top 10 Syndie Shows | ||
|---|---|---|
| By ad spending in fourth quarter 2002 | ||
| Program | Distributor | $ Million |
| Source: Nielsen Monitor-Plus, King World, industry sources |
||
| Friends | Warner Bros. | $70 |
| Seinfeld | Sony | $38 |
| The Oprah Winfrey Show | King World | $35 |
| Entertainment Tonight | Paramount | $25 |
| Everybody Loves Raymond | King World | $22 |
| Will & Grace | Warner Bros. | $22 |
| Extra | Warner Bros. | $21 |
| Wheel of Fortune | King World | $20 |
| Jeopardy | King World | $20 |
| Dr. Phil | King World | $15 |
Dr. Phil, the big new ratings hit of the season, took top revenue-generating honors among new shows in the first-run category. According to King World, which distributes the show to stations and sells the national barter time, Dr. Phil pulled in about $15 million in national barter revenue for the fourth quarter, or about $35,000 per 30-second spot.
The Monitor-Plus estimate for the Paramount-produced Dr. Phil was actually a little higher, at about $20 million (and some sources think the number for Will & Grace may be high, too). But a Nielsen spokeswoman stressed that the ad-tracking service's estimates are just that—estimates —and shouldn't be taken as hard and fast tallies. But, as the SNTA conference gets ready to debut in New York this week, the figures give a good idea of what advertisers are paying for syndie's cream of the crop.
The Monitor-Plus estimates are based on cost-per-rating-point estimates provided to it by SQAD, the ad/marketing research firm, which gets its information from advertising-agency sources. Monitor-Plus then combines those agency-supplied cost-per-point estimates with its own program ratings to come up with the ad-expenditure estimates.
Those rates should be higher for Dr. Phil next season. Sources note that the show came into the season with great expectations but no track record. "Advertisers got more than their money's worth this season," observed one media sales executive. "Next season, no advertiser will be surprised to pay more for Phil."
Indeed, there are some who believe that Dr. Phil's rates next year may be more in the range of the rates received by The Oprah Winfrey Show, the perennial top-rated talk show in syndication.
King World confirmed that Oprah did about $35 million in ad business in the fourth quarter with an average spot price of about $75,000. But in the key sales demo, women 25-54, Dr. Phil came within 20% of the share that Oprah had in the demo (24 vs. 20) for the November sweeps. And in household share, the two shows tied at about a 20.
For the sweeps, Oprah averaged a 6.0 household rating/5 share, while Dr. Phil averaged a 5.0/15. Among women 25-54, Oprah averaged a 4.7/24 and Dr. Phil a 3.4/20, according to a Katz Television analysis of the Nielsen numbers for November. Dr. Phil boosted its time-period rating by almost 80% in the female demo and by about 72% for households.
The ratings for Will & Grace were not as robust. The Katz rundown showed the series averaged a 2.5 household rating (down 11% in its time periods vs. a year ago) and a 5 share with a 2/7 among women 25-54, which was flat in rating but up about 9% in share.
"It's not a surprise at all that Dr. Phil had the highest ad revenue of any new first-run show," said Bill Carroll, vice president of programming for Katz Media Group, the New York-based rep firm. "The expectations were high, and the ratings were so positive that any ad time that wasn't booked prior to the show's premiere probably sold out pretty quickly after advertisers got a look at the ratings."
Meanwhile, the Monitor-Plus estimates showed that Friends collected the most national barter time in the fourth quarter, with an estimated $71 million. That includes its multiple runs on broadcast stations as well as on TBS Superstation.
Even so, some media executives said the number sounded high. No comment from Warner Bros. at deadline on how close (or not) the ad tracker's estimates are for its shows, including Friends, Will & Grace and others. Still, it appears that Friends was the top seller. Seinfeld was second; media sources put its fourth-quarter tally at $38 million. Oprah was the third-biggest draw for ad dollars at $35 million, while Everybody Loves Raymond, also sold by King World, was fourth with roughly $22 million (125,000 per 30).
In November, Raymond and Friends tied for first in household rating and share at 4.5/8 while Friends performed slightly better among women 25-54, with a 3.9/11 vs. a 3.6/10. On average, though, Raymond boosted the household rating in its time period by 10% and the rating for the female demo by 9%. For Friends, the ratings in both categories were down single digits.
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