• by Wayne Friedman , May 13, 2011

For the fourth year in a row, "American Idol" continues to be the top buy for marketers -- but it's not just traditional TV metrics that value the show as its main barometer. 

When taking into account an entire show's entertainment footprint -- Web site, social, mobile and cross-platform usage, as well as press and personal recommendations, buzz and search -- Optimedia US says the 10-year-old Fox singing competition show is still tops.

Optimedia says its Content Power Ratings survey this year -- the fourth year it has done this study -- has seen a greater influence from social media for televisions shows. This continues to shake up its list.

"Content owners and advertisers are becoming increasingly aware of the influence that social media has on television-viewing behavior," stated Greg Kahn, executive vice president of business development at Optimedia US.

For example, Fox's "Glee" was ranked second, according to Optimedia, as opposed to its 55th-rank position when just looking at overall Nielsen viewership. "Glee" was in ninth place in the Content Power Ratings a year ago.

Better still, the show in fourth place -- cable series "South Park" on Comedy Central -- was ranked 211th among all TV shows, network and cable, in Nielsen.

Content Power Ratings said "South Park" had the highest number of online video views of any prime-time show, driven mostly from free content made available on SouthParkStudios.com. Because of this, the show's video views were 10 times over all TV series' average.

Many network shows ranked lower, according to Optimedia, than their respective Nielsen ratings. ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" came in third place for Optimedia -- but it is considered the second-highest entertainment series, per Nielsen.

Several CBS shows were also in this group. "NCIS" was seventh for Content Power; third in Nielsen; "Two and a Half Men," 10th in Content Power, fifth in Nielsen; "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation", 15th place in Content Power; 11th in Nielsen; and "Criminal Minds", 23rd in Content Power, 12th in Nielsen.

Other cable shows did well as compared to Nielsen ratings: MTV's "Jersey Shore" got a 19th placing in Content Power; 204th in Nielsen; HBO's "True Blood" was 20th place in Content Power, 206th in Nielsen; HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" made 21st in Content Power, 219th in Nielsen; and Showtime's "Dexter" was 22nd on Content Power, 270th in Nielsen.

Maureen Bosetti, executive vice president of broadcast buying director for Optimedia US, said: "This report enables us to tap into sponsorship opportunities across multiple platforms and amplify our client's message where consumers are most engaged."