Nielsen: Higher TV Viewing in HD Homes
George Winslow -- Multichannel News, 2/19/2008 7:16:00 AM
The stunning pictures available on high-definition television sets not only produced record retail sales in the run-up to the Super Bowl, they also fueled higher ratings for the event in HD homes, new rating’s data from Nielsen suggest.
While the game racked up a record 43.3 rating among Nielsen’s entire sample, it got even higher ratings in HD homes, said Tom Ziangas, senior vice president of Nielsen Sports. In homes with HD sets that were receiving HD signals, the event scored a 47.6 rating, 9.9% higher than the viewing level in all homes.
The Super Bowl ratings provide a rare look at HD viewing patterns and are part of a general trend towards higher viewing TV levels in HD homes.
Nielsen has been capable of breaking out the ratings for HD homes for over 18 months but clients generally don’t request the breakdown and channels rarely release HD ratings data to the public, making it difficult to track actually viewing of HD programming.
“If you break out a HD simulcast channel, that produces lower viewing levels for standard definition channels,” Ziangas said. “Until the clients figure out a way of monetizing [separate ratings for the HD feeds] by, for example, putting unique advertising on the HD feed, there isn’t an incentive to provide separate ratings.”
The rarely publicized data shows that TV viewing levels are generally higher in what Nielsen calls HD capable and receivable homes. Those homes have HD sets and are actually receiving HD signals.
In December 2007, broadcast TV stations had an 8.9 rating in those HD homes, versus a 6.8 in the entire sample, producing 30.9% higher viewing levels in HD homes. Ratings for cable programming in HD homes were 43% higher than the overall sample.
Sports programming produced particularly high ratings.
A Nielsen study of viewing levels in a series of National Football League and college football games on ESPN and regular broadcast networks found that viewing levels “were 47% to 120% higher in HD capable and receivable homes,” Ziangas said.
For example, the New York Giants-New England Patriots championship game produced a 5.5 rating in HD capable and receivable homes versus a 2.5 rating in the total sample.
Nielsen also found higher viewing levels documentaries, dramas and sitcoms in HD homes.
In November 2007, viewing of Grey’s Anatomy was 43% higher in HD capable and receivable homes, while ratings for Desperate Housewives were 33% higher.
The Nielsen data also illustrates why HD viewers are a highly desirable demo for advertisers and operators.
While about 25% of all homes have an HD set, only 13.6% were HD capable and receivable in December 2007, a penetration rate that is growing by about 1% a month.
About 60.7% of those homes had incomes of over $75,000, more than double the 29.4% in that income bracket in the general population, and 39.1% of those HD homes had incomes of over $100,000 versus 15.9% in the general population.
Those homes also had higher educational levels, with 47.5% having four years or more of college versus 31.9% in the general population, and larger families, with over half of all HD homes (52.2%) having three or more people compared to the overall rate of about 43%.
About 71.2% of the HD homes had digital cable, versus 35% in the general population, illustrating their importance to cable operators.
Penetration levels for DBS in HD homes are 27.5%, virtually identical to the entire sample where 27.6% have DBS.
But DVR penetration in HD homes is almost 60%, nearly triple the 22% overall rate.
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