Proprietary Metrics System Evaluates TV Program Values Across Three Tiers - Audience Delivery, Involvement and Advocacy

Media Buying and Strategy Agency Finds American Idol Still King of All Media; Comedies, Politics, Sci-Fi Gain Mojo

NEW YORK, May 15 /PRNewswire/ -- As the TV industry reacts to a seismic shift in people's viewing behavior ahead of next week's broadcast Upfronts, media buying and strategy agency Optimedia US (www.optimedia-us.com) today released Content Power Ratings 2.0, its proprietary media metrics system that goes beyond traditional audience ratings and evaluates TV program values using three criteria - total cross-platform audience (across television, the Web and mobile), involvement and advocacy.

"The industry's metrics system has not kept pace with consumers' rapidly changing viewing habits, preferences and the technology that enables it. Heading into the Upfronts, Content Power Ratings 2.0 allows us to better understand the total value that a program represents for advertisers and unearth surprise hits that deliver better value than their audience ratings would imply," said Greg Kahn, Senior Vice President/head of Strategic Insights for Optimedia US.

Key findings of CPR 2.0 include:

• Fox's American Idol continues to reign supreme as the top show across all three screens
• Sci-Fi shows, led by ABC's Lost (#2), have a strong showing in this year's rankings due to robust online streaming and appointment viewing
• Comedies, including NBC's The Office (#3), make a comeback - comprising six of the top 20 CPR-ranked shows
• Politically-themed material around the election boosted CBS's 60 Minutes (#15), NBC's Saturday Night Live (#1 in late night), and Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (#2 in late night)
• AMC's Mad Men was the highest primetime show on cable
• New 2008 shows, Fringe (Fox) and The Mentalist (CBS), perform well across all platforms
• CW's Gossip Girl (#19) and One Tree Hill (#37) rank nearly 100 places higher than their respective television ratings

"Given the changes in viewer habits, it is important that we continue to evolve the metrics we use to evaluate content. No longer is reach - or audience delivery - the only criterion that is relevant," added Optimedia US CEO Antony Young. "Programs like American Idol are much more than a ratings phenomenon, and have huge brand equity that is unaccounted for in traditional audience delivery metrics. Similarly, programs like The Office deliver a more engaged, higher quality audience than its traditional audience rating implies," Young said.

Methodology

Using data culled from the agency's own primary research, as well as from Nielsen Media Research's NTI database, Nielsen Online Video Census, Nielsen Mobile, comScore's Media Metrix, E-Poll's FastTrack(TM) Television, Google Trends, and Dow Jones Factiva, Optimedia's Content Power Ratings value programs using three key criteria:

• Audience Delivery - including average audience impressions, visits to a program's Web site, watching the program online and/or via mobile device
• Involvement - including index of Google search volume; awareness of program, and effort made to watch the show
• Advocacy - including press mentions, recommendations and general "buzz"

    Top 25 Shows by CPR Ranking:

    PROGRAM                         NETWORK    CPR 2.0 Rank    2008 TV Rank
    AMERICAN IDOL                   FOX                   1               1
    LOST                            ABC                   2              22
    OFFICE, THE                     NBC                   3              69
    DANCING WITH THE STARS          ABC                   4               2
    GREY'S ANATOMY                  ABC                   5              38
    HEROES                          NBC                   6              47
    FAMILY GUY                      FOX                   7              75
    CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION  CBS                   8               4
    SURVIVOR                        CBS                   9              11
    HOUSE                           FOX                  10              27
    DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES            ABC                  11              20
    BONES                           FOX                  12              52
    FRINGE                          FOX                  13              43
    30 ROCK                         NBC                  14              62
    60 MINUTES                      CBS                  15               6
    SIMPSONS                        FOX                  16              89
    NCIS                            CBS                  17               5
    UGLY BETTY                      ABC                  18              65
    GOSSIP GIRL                     CW                   19             118
    SCRUBS                          NBC                  20              71
    MENTALIST, THE                  CBS                  21               3
    BIG BROTHER                     CBS                  22              76
    BIGGEST LOSER                   NBC                  23              36
    PRISON BREAK                    FOX                  24              81
    JERICHO                         CBS                  25              64

About Optimedia US

Optimedia US (http://www.optimedia-us.com/) is a media agency that specializes in strategy. Its proposition is summed up in the expression "Never Settle, Never Stop..." Optimedia is an agency that loves to challenge. With offices in New York, Dallas, Indianapolis, San Francisco and Seattle, Optimedia works on such clients as T-Mobile, Nestle, L'Oreal, Whirlpool, sanofi-aventis, Payless Shoes, and British Airways. Optimedia is owned by Publicis Groupe, the largest media agency services group in the US. It is part of the ZO Worldwide Network.

SOURCE Optimedia US

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