It's Summertime, and for Broadcasters, the Livin' is Queasy
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On the heels of a second quarter that saw broadcast primetime C3 deliveries plummet 15% from the period a year earlier, the ratings free fall accelerated further in July as the exodus of younger viewers from traditional TV carried on with what’s become to seem a sort of grim inevitability.
According to Nielsen C3 data, broadcast ratings in July fell 17% from the analogous month in 2016, as deliveries of adults age 18-to-49 continued to be undermined by defections among viewers at the dewier margins of the demo. July PUT levels (industry argot for “Persons Using Television”) were down 20% among the 18-to-24 set, and while that age range represents a fraction of the overall target demo, many execs fear that younger consumers who’ve hightailed it for the more immediate gratifications of digital media are unlikely to return to the cozy precincts of traditional TV.
All told, the Big Four networks in July averaged 3.83 million adults 18 to 49, which works out to a 3.0 rating in the C3 currency. That’s down from the 4.63 million targeted viewers broadcasters served up in July 2016, which works out to a 3.6 C3 rating. (A rough weighted-average measurement of the commercial impressions notched within the first three days after a program’s premiere, C3 has served as the official yardstick of the TV business for a decade.)
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