NETWORK EXECS: RATINGS DON’T MATTER ANYMORE

If there’s one thing that the executives of each of the four major broadcast networks can agree on, it’s that traditional ratings data are becoming irrelevant in a day when more and more viewers are watching programs on mobile devices and/or recording them to watch on their TV sets at more convenient times. Speaking at a meeting of the execs on Monday that was covered by the Los Angeles Times, Fox Broadcasting COO Joe Earley remarked “These are crazy times in terms of viewer measurement.” Added Will Somers, the company’s research chief: “Evaluating hits and misses based solely on the overnights [Nielsen’s preliminary ratings] is something that doesn’t make sense anymore.” Nevertheless, the Times observed, the networks are at the mercy of advertisers, who see ratings as the best method of determining the size and makeup of television audiences. Advertisers, the newspaper commented, “will face an uphill battle in changing the perception that those early numbers are key to determining success.”