The 10:00 timeslot on broadcast TV has been declining in recent years, partly thanks to a growing use of the DVR and partly because of cable’s rising dominance.
Shows like AMC’s “The Walking Dead and FX’s “American Horror Story” are winning the night on cable while broadcast is reporting record lows in the 10 p.m. timeslot this fall. As primetime winds down between 10-11 p.m., ratings are declining while Live+7 numbers are racking up for broadcast shows like ABC’s “Nashville.”
A new analysis by Adweek hypothesizes that the 10:00 timeslot is losing viewers because those viewers are either watching cable as they record broadcast, or because those viewers are using the hour to catch up on previously recorded programming.
And as TV fans use the 10:00 hour to catch up on the night’s, or week’s, DVRed series, the night’s live content suffers.
Read more at Adweek.
Brief Take: The 10:00 timeslot has been a difficult one to program for for years, but as the ratings decline, the question shifts to marketers: How do you market a show that no matter how great, might be overlooked for cable or passed up in favor of the DVR?
[Image courtesy of ABC]
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