CBS: Nielsen's Total Content Ratings Boosts Viewing Numbers

CBS Says Nielsen's Total Content Ratings Boost Prime-Time Viewing by Wayne Friedman, 6 hours ago CBS is touting prime-time program viewing gains from Nielsen’s Total Content Ratings -- still a work in progress, which pool together viewing from all traditional and digital platforms.

MediaPost reports the network says entertainment shows have grown on average 54%, versus Nielsen live-program-plus-same day ratings.

Some examples: Through 13 weeks of this TV season, “The Big Bang Theory” rose 67% to 24.4 million viewers; “NCIS” was 43% higher to 21.3 million; “Bull” grew 56% to 19.5 million.

Versus analyzing C3 or C7 data -- which are average minute commercial ratings plus three or seven days of time-shifted viewing -- Nielsen nascent Total Content Ratings pools together live viewing plus time-shifted viewing through 35 days, on a variety of devices and services, including digital, mobile, VOD, and DVR.

David Poltrack, chief research officer of CBS Corp. cautioned that CBS' current release of TCR data did not include any digital measurement. But when it does, “we expect another bump in our viewership numbers, especially given the rapid growth and success of our digital platforms, [including CBS All Access and its CBS app],” he said.