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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Delayed viewing boosts numbers for network series


By Gary Levin, USA TODAY
Viewers with DVRs are catching up with series in record numbers, brightening the picture for TV networks by easing yearly declines.

In new Nielsen data for the season's premiere week, many shows scored substantial gains from viewing delayed one to seven days after they aired.

The lift, bigger than ever, blunts early fears several top returning series had plummeted. Grey's Anatomy added 3 million viewers, climbing 17% from its initial total, and two others — CBS' The Mentalist and Fox's House —added nearly as many. In all, 36 shows added 1 million or more viewers, and ratings for 14 programs shot up 20% or more.

And it shows how DVRs — now in one in three homes, up from 27% last fall — not only shift viewing but also increase it; owners watch far more TV than those without. Yet because viewers can skip commercials, networks can't charge advertisers for many of those extra viewers. (Ad buyers do pay for commercial viewing up to three days later.)

Popular programs in competitive time slots continue to be the most heavily recorded. Grey's, CSI, The Office and Fringe, all airing at 9 ET/PT Thursday, are among the biggest gainers. ABC's FlashForward was the most heavily recorded new-series premiere, adding 2 million late viewers (16%); NCIS: LA gained 1.8 million (10%).

On a percentage basis, Fox's low-rated sci-fi Dollhouse was top gainer. It added 37%, which translated to just 914,000 extra viewers. Fringe, up 34%, was next, followed by four CW series up 30% or more. NBC's Heroes got a 27% lift but still ranked below last year's opener.

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