Dollhouse

Is It A Good Thing That 90210, Gossip Girl & Dollhouse Get 40+% of Demo Viewing By DVR?

For the week of March 30 - April 5, 2009, 4 shows (90210, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, Gossip Girl and Dollhouse) had more than 40% of their adults 18-49 demo viewing by DVR. And most of that DVR viewing was after the airdate. Is that fact good for the shows or bad?

Since TV advertising is sold/measured based on the average commercial minute watched within 3 days of airdate (also referred to as C3 or C+3 ratings), and the very limited amount of data we have seen suggests that for most shows their Live+SD program rating and their C+3 ratings are very similar, my conclusion is that DVR viewing beyond the Live+SD time period has little advertising value. Since it has little advertising value it contributes very little value to the show. Of course, you’d rather have DVR viewers than no viewers, but on balance I think it’s a bad thing for the shows.