TV Stations touting their numbers

[CKMD]

So, what's the deal with some TV stations sending their Neilsen numbers after a book as a news release to other media?
I've worked for a few places that do that.

What do you think about it?

Do you think the general public really care about your share and rating at 6am? et al.?

[Produce man]

No, I don't think so. People know what they like, and I don't believe they really care about station rankings.

Just my opinion.

[adam & doctor drew]

especially when there are a million ways to spin those numbers.

if you had a bad book, you compare it to a year ago, or 5 years ago, or pump up the demo, or blame the network lead-in.

it's all a lie.

[CKMD]

I've always felt that way as well. I wouldn't go around and brag about our numbers if we were #1 either...well, at least in Press Release form to the other media in town.
Of course...I'm not a GM.

[WOS]

They're not so interested in readers or viewers seeing the "news," but more interested in advertisers and potential advertisers reading the "news."

[The Mockingbird]

So, what's the deal with some TV stations sending their Neilsen numbers after a book as a news release to other media?
I've worked for a few places that do that.

What do you think about it?

Do you think the general public really care about your share and rating at 6am? et al.?

It depends on where the news release is going. Usually local papers in the market have a TV/Radio reporter who covers all the stuff that's usually inside baseball. There are people who do like to read about that kind of thing.

[SamG]

How is this different than Chevy or Ford touting their pickup as "The best selling truck in America"? Or a toothpaste manufacturer touting "4 out of 5 doctor's recommend"?

[The Mockingbird]

FIVE YARD PENALTY, USING POSSESSIVE INSTEAD OF PLURAL.


/Save

[Clubbeat]

but neither do the people in small to mid-size companies who are in charge of making ad buys.

When I worked for a radio group, we'd take out full page ads in the local daily to tout how we're kicking the competitions ass in the ratings. (Of course we'd spin the hell out of it).

Then I went on a sales call with a account exec. one day. The exec. kept telling the potential buyer all of the good the station I was running was doing in the community, the growing audience, how we're kicking ass in the DMA with our rising numbers etc. The potential client stopped him mid-sentence and said "What the hell is a ratings point, and how is that going to help me increase the number of customers that come through the door?"

As the account exec was trying to explain the ratings game, I could see the potential client's eyes glaze right over. He never made the sale. Ironically, the business had one of the stations in our group on when we visited.

Bottom line most people, other than AE's, and media buyers for large corporations, GM's, ND's, PD's are the only ones who really give a rats ass about the numbers. Everyone else including the general public, simply does not care.

[Jane Craig]

It's a way to put your story out, and clips are used by salespeople with agency media buyers and by rep firms who sell time on smaller stations. Getting your ratings story out is just part of the competitiveness of the business. Some viewers have a passing curiosity about whether other people watch what they do; most don't care. But ratings stories are part of the psychological warfare of local TV.

[Sigonfile]

To pump up ad dollars$$$$$$$$$$

[CKMD]

To pump up ad dollars$$$$$$$$$$

How? Buyers get the numbers themselves. The station can give buyers the numbers.
Putting out a news release and putting on the website is nothing more than a big F-You to the competition...It's childish. It's also 1 book...and it's a flawed diary!

[overthehill]

My wife has been in broadcast sales for...well...a long time. She tells me many local businesses buy based on the station's/newscast's reputation or a "deal," not ratings numbers. The national buyers/advertisers/clients/agencies want numbers.