Military TV, Television - Military Times

May sweeps won’t kick up any dust

The crucial May “sweeps” period started April 23, but the outcome of the TV season it ushers out is already settled.

CBS, armed with sturdy procedurals including new hit “The Mentalist,” will win. It now leads No. 2 Fox by a healthy margin of 2 million viewers. And Fox will claim its fifth consecutive crown among viewers ages 18 to 49, favored by advertisers, thanks to “American Idol” and a lineup of dramas such as newcomer “Fringe.”

Last year’s three-month writers’ strike caused NBC to abandon pilot episodes for new series and delayed ABC’s development: The network premiered just one new scripted series last fall but added six more in the past month alone, to mostly modest results.

“I don’t know if it’s coincidence, but the network that decided to stay the course as a result of the strike is having the greatest success this year,” says Sam Armando, analyst at Chicago ad firm Starcom Worldwide.

Overall TV usage is up 1 percent this season, helped by expanding use of DVRs, which allow viewers to record shows and watch them later. The devices are now in 31 percent of homes, up from 24 percent last spring.

CBS, which is averaging 11.8 million viewers through last week, is up 13 percent. But its three biggest competitors are down vs. last year’s strike-hobbled season as more viewers flock to cable. And even the Super Bowl won’t keep NBC from finishing in fourth place for the fifth straight year. CW also is down.

Sweeps, once home to heavily hyped miniseries, movie premieres, specials and newsmagazine interviews, has become more subdued. May’s highlights are mostly season finales of top dramas and reality series.

Ratings from the May derby have little effect on networks, which get Nielsen data year-round. Instead, data are used by local stations to set ad rates for the next several months. The four-week period, which ends with the season May 20, quickly follows one in March that was delayed by the now-postponed switchover to digital television.

“I don’t think the March sweep mattered,” says Fox program planning chief Preston Beckman. “May is still the most important sweeps period of the whole year.” But “we never schedule for sweeps anymore,” Beckman says, relying instead on regular series but largely avoiding repeats.

Yet to local stations, “it’s still important to win,” says Shari Anne Brill, analyst at ad firm Carat USA. “Even though they say sweeps don’t matter, they do program” for the month.