Oscars draw smallest-ever U.S. television audience

The Academy Awards attracted its smallest U.S. television audience ever on Sunday, according to Nielsen data reported by Walt Disney Co.'s ABC network, tracking a similar slide for other recent award shows and sports events.

Live TV broadcasts remain relatively attractive for advertisers because watchers cannot skip commercials, with prices for Oscars ad spots climbing despite 2017 viewership, which was the smallest in nine years.

The nearly four-hour live show averaged 26.5 million total viewers, according to Nielsen data in an ABC statement, down from 32.9 million in 2017 and below the 32 million in 2008, now the second-least watched year.

The figures do not include digital and mobile viewing.

Advertisers covet live audiences because they are more likely to view commercials than those watching recorded shows and events, driving pricing higher even as viewership shrinks. ABC owns broadcast rights for the Oscars through 2028.

The 90th Oscars, still expected to be 2018's most-watched nonsporting U.S. television event, honored romantic fantasy "The Shape of Water" as best picture.

The event built on the socially conscious tone of its past few years with themes of female empowerment and activism, but lacked any shocking moments like 2017's best picture mix-up.

Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, host for the past two years, skewered industry-roiling sexual misconduct allegations and reports of gender-based pay disparities, while best actress winner Frances McDormand called for "inclusion riders" to boost Hollywood diversity.

ABC sold out its ad inventory for Sunday's Oscars broadcast and charged $2.6 million on average for a 30-second spot, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

That was a jump from $1.91 million in 2017, according to research firm Kantar Media, which said ABC generated $128 million from the 2017 telecast.

The Grammy Awards in January attracted 26.1 million television viewers, its smallest audience since 2006. February's Super Bowl professional football championship, the most-watched telecast of the year, saw its viewership decline 7 percent from a year earlier to 103.4 million.

ABC offered the live show on abc.com and the ABC app to those with a participating cable or satellite subscription in certain markets. It was also available on live TV services that stream ABC.

The telecast attracted 18.9 percent of viewers in 56 major markets, according to Nielsen’s preliminary overnight metered market household ratings, an ABC spokesman said earlier on Monday, down from 22.4 percent last year.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Xander Ford episode of 'Rated K' beats rival in ratings

MANILA – The “Rated K” episode featuring the transformation of internet sensation Marlou Arizala into Xander Ford proved to be a big winner not just on social media but also on TV.

On Sunday, the episode became a trending topic on Twitter in the Philippines and all over the world. It also defeated its rival program on GMA-7 in the ratings game on television.

 According to data from Kantar Media, “Rated K” scored a national TV rating of 26.4% versus “Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho,” which had a rating of 18.2%.

For weeks, Ford teased fans with his new look but it was only on Sunday that he revealed his new look.

Aside from having his nose and chin altered, Ford also had his teeth, eyebrows and lips fixed.

"Natupad na po 'yung pangarap ko," he said.

Meanwhile, aside from “Rated K,” other ABS-CBN shows ruled the weekend programming.

“Little Big Shots” scored national TV ratings of 34.3% last Saturday (September 30) and 32.7% last Sunday (October 1).

Andrea Brillantes and Grae Fernandez’s first starring series “Wansapanataym Presents: Louie’s Biton,” on the other hand, debuted strongly with 32.1%, compared to “Daig Kayo ng Lola Ko” (17.4%).

The touching story in "Maalaala Mo Kaya" starring Jessy Mendiola recorded 31.6% versus “Magpakailanman” (19%).

“I Can See Your Voice" also ruled its timeslot last Saturday (September 30) with 19.6%, while “Celebrity Bluff” only got 9.6%.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

How your tweets impact TV shows ratings

MANILA -- The higher the number of tweets about a show, the higher its ratings.

This is according to a new study released recently by Kantar Media, where it found that 11 percent (or one out of 10) of the shows and programs surveyed during a 12-month period gained viewers as a direct result of high Twitter activity.

Although the gain is a slight 2 percent, the latest study on UK viewers is one of the "first in-depth" look on how posts on the microblogging site can be an effective tool to complement overall ratings.

In 2013, rival Nielsen touched on the relationship between Twitter and live-broadcasts, revealing that "48 percent of the episodes sampled had statistically significant changes in Live TV Ratings among 29 percent of the episodes."

Kantar Media's latest report examined 110 million TV-related tweets from over 13 million unique users, covering the months between June 2013 and May 2014.

The data, however, relates to live broadcasts and does not include video-on-demand, nor live sports, news and special events.

According to Global CEO of Kantar Media Andy Brown, Twitter not only has the power to boost TV viewing during broadcast but that smaller channels and shows can complement their ratings by becoming more "Twitter-friendly."

"People have always talked about TV with friends and family, and Twitter extends these conversations outside the living room," he said.

Brown added that Twitter-friendly shows that encourage tweets during the broadcast or have a younger audience can help create an image that a program is doing better than its actual ratings.

In UK, the data showed a noticeable skew towards entertainment, talent shows, and some dramas, including "Sherlock," "Downton Abbey" and "Doctor Who," where there is a cult or younger following.

The country's "The X-Factor," which has a huge social media presence of 5.2 million followers, delivered 9.4 million posts on Twitter over the period surveyed, winning the title for highest number of tweets for a series.

"The Brits" -- UK's equivalent of the Grammy Awards -- was the top single broadcast show with more than 4 million posts.

While Kantar Media did not go into detail into how the millions of tweets resulted into more viewers, Joel Lunenfeld, the global vice president of sales strategy at Twitter, asserts that the new data provides enough a look for program makers and advertisers alike to take notice.

"It provides a fascinating set of insights that will help the industry better understand and harness the power of social TV," he said.

Is it happening in the Philippines?

A similar trend can be seen in the Philippines, where several primetime shows and afternoon dramas employ a daily hashtag for viewers and Twitter users to air their thoughts while the the shows are being aired.

Programs such as the finale of "The Voice Kids Philippines" and the recent September 28 episode of "Maalala Mo Kaya, both having trended worldwide on Twitter, topped their respective daily ratings charts.

The primetime series "Got to Believe," starring teen stars Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo, also frequented the worldwide trending topic list of the social media site.

The series was typically in the top five most watched shows in the country, according to data from Kantar Media.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com