Mobile Viewers Tune to Telenovelas
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/17/2006 8:36:00 AM
Turns out that out-of-home viewing to prime time Spanish-language telenovellas is higher than for other non-sports programming. And even the English-language versions on MyNetworkTV draw a crowd of 18-34's away from home.
According to the latest massaging of Portable People Meter (PPM) data from Arbitron's Houston test of the new ratings technology, a little more than a fifth (20.4%) of viewing to telenovellas on Univision was out-of-home in the 18-49 demo. That is compared to an average 13% for all out-of-home viewing. And even that average is boosted by sports, which tends to draw viewers to bars, restaurants, friends houses and other gathering places.
Out of home viewing has soared as high as 50% for World Cup Matches, and the Houston test earlier showed that for an Aug. 13 preseason game between the Washington Redskins and Cincinnati Bengals, 31.1 of persons age 25-54 watched the game away from home.
The high out-of-home viewing came as a surprise to Arbitron, according to the company, though given the daily, continuing storylines, it may be a case of not wanting to miss out on the next plot twist.
Telemundo also beat the average with 17.8% out-of-home for its steamy soaps. Out-of-home viewing to MyNetworkTV's telenovelas was, by contrast, right at the 13% average.
But MyNetworkTV's percentage jumped in the 18-34 demo, with a whopping 24.2%, just edged out by Univision's 24.3%. Telemundo wasn't far behind at 19%.
The figures were for nine weeknights between Sept. 18 and Sept. 29 (the soaps were preempted one of those nights).
Ratings from Arbitron competitor, Nielsen, are based on in-home viewing and do not include viewing in bars or hotels. Back in March, Nielsen decided not to go into business with Arbitron to deploy the Portable People Meters, though it plans to make measuring out-of-home viewing part of its future.
The PPMs, which measure viewing and listening through pager-sized meters that travel with the viewer or listener, will next be tested in Philadelphia on its way to eventual roll-out in the top 50 markets.
