The fall TV premiere season is upon us, and the competition is fierce for audience attention. Convincing viewers to tune in to the premiere isn’t a problem for many of today’s top shows, but episode two doesn’t mean time off for marketers.

According to TV data company Alphonso, understanding who the most loyal viewers are and what else they’re watching could be the key to engagement throughout the entire season.

“The TV viewing experience today is more than just a ratings number,” T.S. Kelly, senior vice president of research at Alphonso, told AListDaily. “Measurement in the age of ‘Peak TV’ means tracking multiple screens and viewing environments for watching the same content, both live and delayed. A more granular view of behavior provides TV companies a better understanding of audience movements before, during and after live broadcasts as well as their constant shifts between networks and platforms.”

 

Fall TV Marketing Momentum

“As premiere week demonstrated, ‘appointment television’ is still alive and well,” said Kelly. “However, our data suggests the need for further promotional focus during the subsequent chase weeks beyond season premieres.”

Alphonso analyzed four top shows for the Fall 2016 TV season—Empire, Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory and This Is Us. In all four broadcast examples studied, 40 percent or more of Live +3 viewers of the premiere episode failed to return for the second episode. Live +3 ratings refer to shows that are watched within the first three days after the time they originally air.

“In some cases, we identified drop-off rates of 30 percent or more of premiere show viewers to subsequent episodes,” said Kelly. “While this does not always equate to parallel declines in program ratings, it does illustrate increasing viewer satisfaction with DVRs and OTT boxes as a means of adjusting media consumption. Mini-binges and the clustering of viewing occasions [are becoming] the more efficient and pleasurable viewing options to meet busy schedules.”

Don’t Change That Dial

The Walking Dead and American Horror Story managed to keep viewers coming back more often, with 2016 Fall TV drop-off rates of 27 and 30 percent, respectively. Tracking these top cable dramas, Alphonso wanted to figure out what else fans were watching.

The company found that loyal audiences of American Horror Story are at least five times more likely to keep watching FX, or at least stay within the horror genre across other networks. Loyal watchers of American Horror Story are seven times as likely to tune in to The Strain, for example.

Alphonso saw similar behavior from loyal viewers of The Walking Dead, with a heavy sampling of multiple AMC programs.

Lead-in traffic also helps keep viewers tuned in. For example, 59 percent of audiences watching the season premiere of The Big Bang Theory stayed to check out Kevin Can Wait in the subsequent timeslot. The same percentage of viewers from the Modern Family premiere stayed to watch Blackish after the show.

Think Digital To Avoid Drop-Off

TV is constantly competing with not only other programs but other forms of entertainment. To keep audiences engaged, Kelly urged marketers to remember not just what shows audiences are watching, but what they’re holding while they do it.

“Digital devices are ubiquitous in the living room,” said Kelly. “It’s more common than not for people to have a phone, a tablet or a laptop in hand or nearby while TV viewing occurs. And the commercial breaks are when these devices are being used the most. This near-constant change in viewer focus means marketers must enhance potential exposure not just by simply adding programs or networks to their TV campaigns, but by looking to messaging on all other devices in simultaneous use within the household. It also means refining placement within pods (first spot, last, etc.) as well as the timing of messaging and creative elements within the placements themselves.”