• by Wayne Friedman , November 11, 2019

Following the increasing standard of TV advertiser deals pegged to more time-shifted viewing and including multi-platforms, ABC will be the second network -- after Fox -- to no longer release Nielsen live program-plus-same day time-shifted viewing data.

Karey Burke, president of ABC Entertainment, says that now ABC will only be releasing viewing data that looks at three-, seven-, or 35-day time-shifted viewing across its multi video platforms.

In a memo to staffers, Burke writes:

“As viewership has evolved, so too has our ability to capture and monetize it, from C3 to C7 all the way to multiplatform 35-day. And going forward, that will be reflected in how we report it internally and externally.”

In 2007, many networks moved to commercial TV rating/TV advertiser deal-making, beginning with the C3 ratings, the average commercial minute ratings plus three days of time-shifted viewing. In recent years, this expanded to seven-day time-shifted viewing, as well as including multi-platform deals including linear TV/video-on-demand platforms and other areas.

Burke adds: “This move aligns us with how we evaluate the comprehensive performance of our shows, how we monetize our business and how our audience chooses to consume our content. People used to plan their lives around television, now they plan television around their lives.”

ABC will begin with offering live program plus three days of time-shifted viewing (L3), followed by L7 and then multi-platform 35-day viewing. 

Burke says there will be one exception to this new rule -- evaluating live TV programming.

Fox was the first network to stop releasing live program/same day time-shifted viewing data in November 2015. The senior Fox executive who headed up that move, Dana Walden, is now chairman of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment.