• by Wayne Friedman , August 1, 2013

Fox is making a pledge to deliver more regular overall viewing data of its TV shows -- all to give TV analysts a more complete picture of TV consumption.

Speaking at the Television Critics Association meeting here, Kevin Reilly, chairman of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Co., said Fox will start a “dashboard” of sorts, detailing virtually all TV-video viewership of its shows.

As has been pushed by other network executives, Fox wants to reveal all viewing -- live-plus-same-day, time-shifted through seven days, and advertising-supported video-on-demand services.

Reilly was critical about regular TV ratings news reports that didn’t reveal all TV viewership -- where a regular TV show can get 30% to 40% of their total viewership outside its initial airing: “Let’s all work a little harder on measurement," he said.

Reilly talked up how a show like “The Following” had an initial total viewing of some 11.8 million viewers. But when considering all other viewing, pushed north, that totals 16.3 million. “New Girl” average initial airings on the Fox network were 6.6 million, but when including other time-shifted ratings, as well as advertiser-sponsored VOD, it totals 9.7 million.

Fox, like other networks, doesn’t get paid for all its time-shifted viewing -- especially when it comes to DVR time-shifted viewing after three days. But increasingly, it is looking to make gains in other digital areas of time-shifted viewing.

Concerning the monetization of video on demand, this fall Fox’s video-on-demand efforts will get “dynamic ad insertion” -- giving Fox the ability to change and replace TV commercials after three days of a show’s airing.

But Fox won’t get all viewing data from subscription video-on-demand services like Netflix, which Reilly says has a “mystery audience." Netflix doesn’t reveal viewership data, as a current company decision. He did say: “They buy our shows, and create an incredible catch-up experience.”

Does older TV viewership favor other networks -- and not Fox? CBS has said total TV viewership is being shifted to more older TV viewers. Reilly says that CBS -- while No. 1 last year among 18-49 viewers -- is heavier with the older viewers part of of the 18-49 demographic. Fox is still the leader among younger 18-34 viewers, he says -- “they are watching television and are watching Fox.&rdquo ;