Steve Sternberg

Articles by Steve All articles by Steve

• Does The Primetime Television Upfront Still Matter? in Research Intelligencer on 05/21/2019
  

  For American television viewers, the start of the new prime-time television season is still four months away. For insiders at media agencies, networks, and advertisers, however, the upfront season is placing thoughts of September squarely into May. But does it even matter anymore?

• A Young Media Person's Guide to Evaluating Pilots in Research Intelligencer on 05/17/2019
  

  In this week's edition, I do what I've done each time this year for the past 30 years: offer my hits and misses on the new prime-time lineups. It's a time-honored process, and the big difference between this year and what I was doing in the 1980s, is the size of the share estimate that I use as the benchmark of success.

• TV May Be Everywhere, But TV Researchers Are Not: Why Measurement Can't Keep Up in Research Intelligencer on 05/06/2019
  

  The fragmentation of TV viewing technology and sources is making it difficult, if not impossible, for audience measurement to keep up with modern viewers.

• In Game Of Thrones, The Women Rule in Research Intelligencer on 04/17/2019
  

  It's the most successful series on premium cable since "The Sopranos." Its eighth and final season, eagerly awaited by its legion of fans, just got underway. Of course, in today's splintered video world, more than half the country has never seen a single episode, and is wondering what all the fuss is about. In this week's edition, I examine one of the things that makes "Game of Thrones" so unique: its well-written female characters.

• When Bias And Speculation Trump Good Reporting in Research Intelligencer on 03/27/2019
  

  In this week's report, Steve Sternberg criticizes how the mainstream media covered the investigation, including last weekend's letter and summary from Attorney General William Barr. "Most interesting to me, however, is how reporters from the legitimate press started scrambling to justify how they and their news outlets handled the story over the past two years," Sternberg opines, adding, "They should be focusing on what they did wrong and how to correct it going forward."

• Why Netflix's Marvel Franchise Is Worth Saving in Research Intelligencer on 03/05/2019
  

  Netflix is ending its five-year partnership with Disney-owned Marvel, which includes canceling all five of its original scripted series based on the characters, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Daredevil, The Punisher, and Jessica Jones. This coincides with Disney ramping up efforts for its own streaming service, Disney+ (set to launch later this year), and increasing its ownership stake in Hulu to 60% (when its purchase of Fox becomes official). In this week's edition, I make a case why the OTT franchise should be saved.

• Forget Millennials and Gen Xer, It's Your Media Generation That Counts in Research Intelligencer on 02/19/2019
  

  Generations have traditionally been defined in 15- to 18-year increments, and given names based on some characteristic of the group's behavior or time period. While there is some disagreement on exact start and end years, these are generally accepted time frames for the seven living generations. In this week's report, I drill into the "media generations" that will matter most to you.

• News Bias, Fake News, False Equivalency, And The Problem With Anonymous in Research Intelligencer on 01/28/2019
  

  Several months ago, I saw an interesting story on MSNBC. A new study had found that since 1994 the percentage of Democrats and Republicans who disapprove of the other party each rose from only about 15% to more than 50%. This is a staggering increase in polarization over the past 25 years. The anchor struggled to come up with a reason, seemingly oblivious to the obvious -- MSNBC and Fox News both debuted in 1996. In this week's report, I examine the impact.

• How To Fix The Oscars Broadcast (Hint: The Host Doesn't Matter) in Research Intelligencer on 01/09/2019
  

  There's been a lot of discussion about who might be the host of this year's Academy Awards broadcast after Kevin Hart was forced to step down when some old controversial tweets were discovered. While interesting, and perhaps newsworthy, whoever the host turns out to be will have little to do with whether the show is successful either from an aesthetic or ratings standpoint. The problem is with the structure of the show itself - not who presents the opening sequence and introduces subsequent sections of the telecast. In this week's edition, I provide my recommendations on how to fix it.

• The Best 18 TV Dramas Of 2018 in Research Intelligencer on 12/10/2018
  

  The fact that I am just now discovering some shows that have already been on for multiple seasons should tell you something about how many gems worth finding are out there. In this week's edition, I list my top 18 dramas for 2018. Some are new, some returning. Since they are so different from one another, I am presenting them in alphabetical rather than rank order.

Comments by Steve All comments by Steve

• 4 In 10 Ad Execs Predict Upfront Will Either Diminish Or Disappear In Five Years by Joe Mandese (Research Intelligencer on 05/08/2019)
  

  Real story is that more than 40% of advertisers and agencies think the upfront will expand.

• Older Companies' Message To Netflix: We Want Our Shows Back by Adam Buckman (TVBlog on 04/29/2019)
  

  I think tthat even though Friends and The Office might be Netflix's most viewed shows, most people get Netflix for original series, not off-net stuff.  Once they get it, they start watching a lot of other things.  So I expect that it might be annoying to lose Friends, it probably won't contribute much to churn.  On average, viewers willspend less time with aNetflix, but it won't inhibit subscriber growth much.

• Shorter TV Ads Command More Viewer Attention by Wayne Friedman (Television News Daily on 10/11/2018)
  

  This is the type of gibberish research that leads to gibberish headlines. 

• 6-Second Commercials Are Dumb by Steve Sternberg (Television News Daily on 06/22/2018)
  

  I've never liked "eyes-on-screen" metrics.  First time I saw that was when networks were trying to convince agencies that viewers were paying attention when fast-forwarding through commercials.  I've never seen anything that correlates eyes-on-screen to ad recall.  And average second eyes on screen metrics to compare attentiveness to different commercial lengths is  just nonsense.  Having eyes focused on the screen is more of a function of multitasking than commercial length.  While there are probably quite effective and creative ways to use 6-second spots, you'll have to prove they are worth any type of premium price.

• 6-Second Commercials Are Dumb by Steve Sternberg (Television News Daily on 06/22/2018)
  

  I think a lot of people have it backward.  For example, when I go to the movies with my wife and millennial son, my wife and I haven't seen most of the commercials they show because we DVR almost everything we watch on linear TV.  My son, on the other hand, watches the commerials and is familiar with all of them, as are his friends.  The idea that millennials have attention spans too short for 30 second commercials is gibberish.  They said the same thing about the MTV generation and 15s vs. 30s.  Where the attantion span comes into play is in the slow or fast pace of a program, certainly not in 6 second vs. 30 second commercials.  And my main point was in the effectiveness and cost differential. 

• Will Less Clutter, Shorter Commercial Pods Matter? by Steve Sternberg (Television News Daily on 05/22/2018)
  

  Whe e did the research demonstrting less commercial avoidance and higher ad reall 10 years ago, that was a year before Niesen started measuring C3 and C7, and when DVR penetration was barely 20% of the U.S.  Today, I think the networks shoud demonstrate that there is still a lift in ad recall before charging a makor premium.  I would experiment over the summer and do the research before September.

• Will Less Clutter, Shorter Commercial Pods Matter? by Steve Sternberg (Television News Daily on 05/22/2018)
  

  Hi Ed. Not sure how we differ. 

• The Upfronts: Only Place to Hear the Truth? by Steve Sternberg (Television News Daily on 05/13/2018)
  

  Hi Ed-i think you missed my point. I was simply quoting things that the networks said at last year’s Upfront presentations. 

• Thor: What Is It Good For? by Steve Sternberg (Television News Daily on 10/23/2017)
  

  But most people have no idea what they mean, while 20 years ago, everyone did. 

• How Much Should Live Viewing Really Matter To Advertisers? by Steve Sternberg (MediaDailyNews on 06/05/2017)
  

  John, that's not how it works. 

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