I finally caught up with a longtime business colleague and friend for a quick but highly needed lunch earlier this week. She can be forgiven; it’s been roughly a year since she was part of the second wave of layoffs that her division of CBS endured. With two teenage children, one who’s just begun to apply for colleges, she’s feeling a level of anxiety that I honestly can’t imagine, and suffice to say I was grateful she even made time for me at all.
But as if to reinforce my overwhelmingly passionate contention that is absolutely necessary for people to stay connected even in a world that at times appears determined to keep us physically apart, it was only over this lunch that I learned that a couple of additional cycles had claimed virtually every senior level executive in her group, save, of course, for the most senior and most politically connected one. The one who signed off on, or at least capitulated to current top corporate management’s belief,that they no longer needed Nielsen at the price point that the service contended it was worth.
They are about to hit the one-month point without the ability to utilize any current or historic Nielsen data in their presentations and deal-making, which may not sound like much but has now exceeded the length of both of Disney’s most recent carriage disputes (with Charter and then with DIRECTV). Indeed, it has already gone more than twice as long as a previous dispute that CBS and Nielsen had in 2019 (that was solved in 11 days).
Many pundits have already gone on record believing that this is little more than negotiating in the press, which is something that the politically connected executive has effectively made into their raison d’etre. But I’m now beginning to believe they are in this for a far longer haul. Especially since they can rely upon third party observers to tell their story better than they can.
This was how CYNOPSIS shared CBS’ obvious press release regarding the success of its fall premieres in this morning’s newsletter:
Several CBS series have posted double-digit multiplatform audiences and season-over-season streaming growth for the premieres of their freshman and sophomore seasons, based on VideoAmp and internal data, led by “Matlock,” whose series premiere has been seen by 15.8 million multiplatform viewers in its first 30 days. The season premiere of “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” amassed 10.6 million multiplatform viewers, while the season two premiere of “Tracker” delivered 15.7 million multiplatform viewers in its first seven days, up +25% from its time period premiere last season on Feb. 18. “Elsbeth’s” season two premiere was seen by nearly 10 million multiplatform viewers in its first seven days, up +19% from its debut last season on Feb. 29.
Well, that’s kinda nice, even if it’s somewhat simplistic. When you’re relying upon a skeleton staff of mostly inexperienced storytellers to work with a fledgling service, you’re somewhat limited in the scope you can provide. Probably why this news didn’t get picked up by the volume of sites that did report on how well these shows fared when their Nielsen numbers were received by subscribers (including their publications) earlier this month.
But veteran HOLLYWOOD REPORTER observer Rick Porter did decide to write about this yesterday and because he’s not contractually bond not to he actually provided context and comparison that makes this story all the more intriguing. Here’s how he amplied the story on TRACKER:
Nearly half of that total (47 percent) came after the show’s initial airing: Streaming on Paramount+ and CBS’ digital platforms along with other delayed viewing accounted for more than 7 million viewers, following 8.31 million same-day viewers for its on-air debut, according to Nielsen.
And here’s his insight on the network’s latest comedy hit.:
Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage premiered to 6.56 million viewers, per Nielsen, and grew to 10.6 million after a week on all platforms, according to VideoAmp.
Purists might immediately note that it’s arguably apples and oranges, since, as he readily asterisks, (a)ll of CBS’ cross-platform figures in this story are a combination of internal streaming data and on-air viewing tallies from VideoAmp, another measurement firm. He additionally caveats that same-day VideoAmp numbers aren’t available.
But he does provide some comfort for such purists when he shared some apparently pure Nielsen data from a competitor that suggests that at least directionally VideoAmp is barking up the tree of accuracy:
The big streaming growth for the CBS shows is consistent with public data for a handful of other network series so far this season. ABC’s High Potential averaged better than 10 million cross-platform viewers over its first two episodes, and the network’s Doctor Odyssey (7.6 million viewers over three days) also showed big gains. Abbott Elementary (6.19 million viewers over a week) nearly tripled the same-day audience for its season premiere.
So thanks to the likes of Porter, who’s been at this a lot longer than apparently what remains at CBS, it’s not as if they or anyone else at Paramount Global is in a news desert. Even if they technically can’t write business on Nielsen, it’s not like their clients aren’t aware of how they’re doing, and if he’s backing up his mixed fruit choices in a manner that helps them justify their support of Videoamp, all the better.
Here’s my burning question: Why isn’t Videoamp taking this golden opportunity to share all of this with the masses–namely prospective clients and, yes, potential investors? Or at least weighing in with the likes of Porter to offer their two cents on how their theoretically more complete lens on viewing patterns as we hit the quarter pole of the 21st century is changing the way business is being conducted?
Are they simply too busy superservicing their agency clients who are using them as a bargaining chip of their own to better identify programmatic opportunities where mere Nielsen data might not be telling a complete story?
Or maybe they simply don’t have anyone on their payroll–or even a consultant–to help them tell that story and upsell it to Porter’s less experienced and more malleable competitors? Not to mention the investment community?
I seem to recall a conversation I had ten months ago with the then-newly recruited head of their sales force, a veteran of Nielsen all too familiar with their measurement issues, who was more than willing at the time to speak in theoretical tones about why they were now representing a better mousetrap. At the time, this person expressed a need for someone to eventually come in and help with that process and promised to “circle back shortly”.
I don’t know about you, but I kinda thought shortly meant a few months less than ten.
Videoamp, this is your moment. You NEED to be out there amplifying this everywhere you can and then some. You don’t have to rely upon someone like Porter to convey information to you the way what’s left at CBS and Paramount Global have to.
Lest anyone think I’m simply being selfish (which considering the current amount in my bank account I’d arguably be justified to be), I’m not necessarily saying that I should be the person to do that–though I certainly have a compelling list of reasons why I am. After all, I’ve had a lot of time to work on it.
But Lord knows there are plenty of other folks currently looking for gigs that you can pick from. My lunch date for one.
Just do something already, Videoamp. Time’s a wastin’.
Until next time…