TV RATINGS UPDATE - SURVEY 3

Free TV is going from strength to strength in 2010, with survey-on-survey ratings analysis revealing significant gains for commercial free-to-air television in reach, share of viewing and average audiences.

Official ratings data for the survey year (Surveys 1 - 3) reveals consistent growth for Free TV in 2010:

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Average daily reach surged in Survey 3 with 13.8 million Australians tuning in to Free TV every day, up from 13.2 million in Surveys 1 and 2.


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Free TV continues to make impressive gains in share of viewing, peaking in Survey 3 with a 67.2 per cent share of nightly viewing in metro markets and 64.2 per cent in regional areas.

Nightly Share of Viewing (6pm to midnight) - Metro & Regional
 

  


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Free TV is also enjoying audience gains in 2010. Survey 3 nightly metro audiences (total people) are up 7.6 per cent, 18-24’s are up 4.4 percent, 25-54’s are up 7.8 per cent and GB’s are up 6.5 per cent, when compared with the previous survey.


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Time spent viewing also increased in Survey 3, with Australians in metro areas spending an average of 3 hours and 10 minutes a day watching TV (up 9 minutes compared with Survey 2).


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Furthermore, PVR viewing is adding incremental audiences of up to 148,000 viewers, once playback is taken into account. 

 Free TV's Top 20 Time Shift Programs – Survey YTD – Metro & Regional 

Rank Program Preliminary
Overnight
Consolidated %
increase
Audience
increase
1 HOUSE 1,036,000 1,184,000 14.3 148,000
2 THE PACIFIC (EP2) 1,696,000 1,844,000 8.7 148,000
3 THE AMAZING RACE 749,000 892,000 19.1 143,000
4 THE PACIFIC 1,903,000 2,045,000 7.5 142,000
5 THE GOOD WIFE 1,388,000 1,516,000 9.2 128,000
6 UNDERBELLY: GOLDEN MILE 2,293,000 2,421,000 5.6 128,000
7 GREY'S ANATOMY 1,330,000 1,455,000 9.4 125,000
8 UNDERBELLY: GOLDEN MILE (EP2)           2,664,000 2,789,000 4.7 125,000
9 BROTHERS & SISTERS 1,175,000 1,295,000 10.2 120,000
10 NCIS 1,932,000 2,052,000 6.2 120,000
11 UNDERBELLY: GOLDEN MILE (EP1) 2,972,000 3,092,000 4.0 120,000
12 BROTHERS & SISTERS (TUE) 1,183,000 1,298,000 9.7 115,000
13 GREY'S ANATOMY (EP2) 1,270,000 1,382,000 8.8 112,000
14 BONES 1,728,000 1,838,000 6.4 110,000
15 CASTLE 1,258,000 1,368,000 8.7 110,000
16 GLEE 1,602,000 1,710,000 6.7 108,000
17 PRIVATE PRACTICE 854,000 961,000 12.5 107,000
18 CRIMINAL MINDS 1,619,000 1,724,000 6.5 105,000
19 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES 1,347,000 1,452,000 7.8 105,000
20 FLASHFORWARD (EP2) 456,000 556,000 21.9 100,000

And while year-on-year comparisons are problematic due to the recent changes to the television ratings panels and the introduction of new digital multi-channels, top-line figures reveal Free TV’s total metro audiences are up for key demographics in 2010, across the day and during the evenings.

Please note, this report updates media release dated 21 May 2010 to include Consolidated ratings for the full survey period.

Data sourced OzTAM 5 cap cities and Regional TAM 4 aggregated markets, Survey 1 (7 February to 6 March), Survey 2 (7 March to 17 April – excludes Easter) and Survey 3 (18 April to 15 May), based on Consolidated ratings. Regional share figures exclude spill. Reach figures include Tasmania and have been rounded to one decimal place. For reach and TSV figures, metro and regional numbers have been added together to form a combined figure and rounded. TSV figures are ranked on audience increases. TSV program results represent an average of all times aired during the period.


Published May 2010