Dexter And Weeds; Ad Friendly?

TV ratings are looking awfully musty these days. Advertisers are looking harder, not just at how TV shows retain audiences but how they play on mobile and online platforms too. Just look at the news coverage Nielsen’s Video Census generates each month as Hulu, YouTube and TV.com continue to grow.

This week, ad agency Optimedia released its own method of tracking show success, dubbed “Content Power Ratings,” which merge traditional TV data from Nielsen with information from Google Trends, E Poll and Comscore to name a few.
The agency’s ratings, not suprisingly rank American Idol and Lost tops, while in late night, Optimedia Saturday Night Live is the number one show, largely thanks to its political coverage this season. Comedy Central’s Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Colbert Report beat Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Late Show with David Letterman. As upfront discussions progress, the agency will be judging networks on their own individual show marketing plans with the aim of tracking how likely audiences are to stay following the new shows.  Greg Kahn, senior-VP director of insights at the agency explains, “Take Dexter and Weeds, it could be challenging to put advertising on a show about a serial killer or marijuana, but there are sponsorship opportunities in other platforms.” Both shows currently run on ad-free Showtime, but generate significant online interest.
“The story is that it is equally important to promote these pieces of content in multiple platforms. The viral nature of Internet and mobile can’t be ignored,” says Kahn.