As viewer consumption habits continue to evolve, the importance of video on demand cannot be overstated.
In a blog post last week, Steve Meyer, Comcast’s Executive Director of Video Strategy and Analysis, looked at how people watched the premiere episode of Fox’s hit series ‘Gotham.’
The episode had a L+30 audience of 22.2 million, with 75 percent of viewers watching the episode on DVR or video on demand after the live airing. 4.3 million of viewers were Comcast subscribers, and of that subset, 28% watched the episode live, 28 percent watched it via a DVR recording, and 43 percent watched it on Xfinity on Demand.
Xfinity on Demand, then, drove “1.9 million views, or 8.5 percent of the total national audience for the show, within the first 30 days.”
These numbers are important for a few reasons, but mainly it will give networks new opportunities to monetize programs for longer durations of time. More, networks have historically been quick to axe new shows with “unacceptable” ratings early in the season. ‘Gotham’s’ success is a good case for why networks should hold out longer; the shows ratings declined steadily after the premiere, but “the series posted its first ratings increase seven episodes into the season” and it consistently ranks in the top 10 of Xfinity on Demand’s Top 20. Audiences are using video on demand to become current, and it will be interesting to see if ‘Gotham’s’ ratings steadily increase during the rest of its first season.