PBS has officially become a full, weekly Nielsen client, meaning that comprehensive ratings and demographic info for over 40 PBS programs will now be regularly measured and reported.
It’s only just started, but PBS has already started pushing the news that ratings for the first week of the new “PBS NewsHour” were up an average of 9% in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York from the week prior.
Other programs that will now be measured include: “Antiques Roadshow,” “Masterpiece Theater,” “NOVA,” “Nature,” “Frontline,” and “Sesame Street.”
“The new Nielsen ratings service will provide current and potential sponsors with a detailed picture of the diverse audiences our programs serve,” said Andrew Russell, SVP, PBS Ventures, in a press release.
Full release after the jump.
PBS GOES FULL TIME WITH NIELSEN
Full Demographic Ratings Available 52 Weeks a Year
Alexandria, VA (December 21, 2009)—For the first time ever, PBS has implemented a full-time Nielsen ratings service providing comprehensive demographic ratings weekly for 40+ nationally distributed programs, including children’s and general audience shows. Under the new agreement, PBS programming will be measured every week, with ratings available alongside those of other measured media in Nielsen tools and in the same timeframe. Full ratings and demographics are now available through Nielsen services such as NPower®.
PBS’ renowned prime time programs Antiques Roadshow, Masterpiece Theater, PBS NewsHour, NOVA, Nature and Frontline as well as children’s favorites, Curious George, SuperWhy!, Sid the Science Kid, Dinosaur Train and Sesame Street are among the 40+ measured programs.
The new Nielsen measurement will provide media agencies with more knowledge about PBS audiences in order to create better media plans for their clients – which may include sponsorship of PBS programming. Through improved data reporting, agencies will be able to better understand how PBS sponsorship will benefit their clients and make informed, compelling recommendations. And, once sponsorship is secured, the new data will help the agencies provide their clients with more timely and complete data about sponsorship performance.
“PBS is meeting the evolving needs of our program supporters, who are essential partners in making our content available to the public,” says Andrew Russell, Senior Vice President, PBS Ventures. “We continue to introduce new, innovative solutions to better meet our partners’ needs. The new Nielsen ratings service will provide current and potential sponsors with a detailed picture of the diverse audiences our programs serve.”
“PBS has terrific, sizable, and loyal audiences with a strong connection to our programs. The demographic breakdown of PBS’s full day audience matches the overall U.S. population with respect to race/ethnicity, education and income. This means PBS content offers tremendous reach to a broad spectrum of Americans – from our educated, affluent and engaged prime time viewers to the parents and caregivers found within our children’s programming audiences,” says Mr. Russell. “Today we work with sponsors who want to more frequently update their on-air creative, and offer enhanced digital sponsorship opportunities. Our reach and these new offerings make PBS an even more valuable part of our sponsors’ media plans.”
The new measurement service debuted with the premiere of Ken Burns’s THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA reporting the documentary received an overall household average audience rating of 3.5, and averaged five and a half million viewers per episode. Reporting available through Nielsen’s NPower also provides better visibility into PBS’s children’s programming audiences with data indicating PBS KIDS has a higher co-viewing rating for children aged 2-5 watching with ladies of the household age 18-49 than any other children’s network (Source: NPower, October 26 – November 29, 2009, all daytime children’s programs on measured PBS, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Nick Jr., Disney XD, and Nicktoons).
While PBS has held a Nielsen contract since the 1980’s, the new service marks a significant upgrade from 12 sample weeks to 52 weeks a year. Now PBS program ratings will be continuously measured every week and reported through Nielsen’s online data systems for PBS and the rest of the media industry to access.