• by Wayne Friedman , November 5, 2018

In a TV report for the third quarter, older TV viewers gave the greatest “attention” to TV programs and commercials -- and in particular, older women viewers.

TVision, which measures what it terms “eyes on the screen,” says that in the third quarter of this year, which included the start of the TV season, 55-to-64-year-old TV viewers were more attentive than any other demographic group. They hit a 120.4 index when viewing program content.

The lowest attention score went to those under 18 years of age, at 89.5.  Those 35-44 were the next lowest at 93.0, and viewers 18-24 came in at a 97.3 index.

TV commercial attention was similarly ranked: Viewers 55-64 scored a 122.3 index, and the next-lowest category was viewers under 18 at a 90.4 index, and 35-44-year-olds, at a 94.5 number. Viewers 18-24 were at 97.9.

For all women, it was a 102.7 program-attention index and a 103.6 commercial attention index; men saw a 97.3 index for programming and 96.4 number for commercials.

TVision calculates “attention index” looking at viewers' eyes on the TV screen in seconds against a viewer in the room with the TV set on -- also in seconds. For TV commercials, it looks at its "commercial attention index" against its "pod attention index" -- measuring a commercial’s ability to “break through” other messaging.

The third-quarter 2018 data -- June 25 to September 30, 2018 -- came from 7,500 individuals across the U.S, weighted to represent the country. All demographic data was self-reported by the respondents.

During this period, top attention-getting TV shows on broadcast TV were: NBC’ “Running Wild With Bear Grylls (153.0 index); CW’s “The 100” (151.7); ABC’s “Single Parents” (147.1); ABC’s “American Housewife” (146.1); and CBS’s “Young Sheldon” (138.9).

Overall, The CW held the top spot for a broadcast network when it came to attention, followed by CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox.

The top cable shows were: Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race” (173.5); CNN’s “The History of Comedy” (170.7); FX’s “Pose” (161.7); Fox Business’ “Kennedy” (158.6); and Discovery’s “Deadliest Catch: The Bait” (157.1).

The top commercial attention-indexed brands during the period were: GoodRx (114.2); Aflac (112.9); ExxonMobil (112.3); CoolSculpting (111.0); and Walgreens (110.0).