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Is It Fair to Count DVR Viewing in Conan's Ratings? Hell, Yes

By Catharine Taylor

Updated on: January 21, 2011 / 2:01 PM EST / MoneyWatch

And you thought that TV ratings were TV ratings -- but not when it comes to the new talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. The TBS talk show has just launched a campaign targeted at advertisers touting the show's No. 1 performance in adults 18-34 and adults 18-49, with a bullet -- but not the kind of bullet you see on the bestseller list.

This bullet clicks people over to some fine print about the ratings figures: that they reflect both the show's live ratings and the next seven days of DVR viewership, not something that has traditionally been touted to advertisers. (Officially, the metric advertisers buy time on is what is known as "Live Plus 3," which includes only three days of DVR viewing.)

Actually, not a labored PR exercise by TBS
So is TBS doing a labored workaround to make its much-touted show look like a hit? Not really, though Conan's competition continues to churn out PR touting superior ratings. This Tonight Show release from last week, for instance, conveniently forgets that cable TV exists. Still, the fact is that DVR-inclusive ratings are a peek into the future, where radically time-shifted viewing becomes key to a show's success. Other figures involving Conan explain why; the average age of the Conan viewer is 33; the average age for Leno is 56.

That's not just a huge difference in age; it's a huge difference in behavior. Younger people (who advertisers love perhaps more than is warranted) are more likely to own and use a DVR. Thus, DVR viewing is a larger factor the younger the target audience. In Conan's case, with a week's worth of DVR viewing factored in, his show has just under 1.45 million viewers in 18-49, while second-place Leno has about 100,000 less. In 18-34, the ratings shift dramatically. While Conan has 930,000 viewers; second-place finisher The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has 574,000 viewers. (Leno ranks fifth, with 470,000 viewers.)

So, will advertisers pay attention to these extended-range ratings figures? Notoriously slow to change, they might not. But they should probably start.

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