Networks releasing some press releases. TVByNumbers believe that when it comes to renewing shows those numbers do not matter. If that was true shows like The Defenders, Hawaii 5-0, The Event, Law & Order: LA.
I think that to ignore the impact that DVR have on viewing television would be like ignoring the impact that Napster and files sharing had on the music industry. Almost ten years after Napster was release, the music industry is still trying to get over the damage the files sharing software did to their industry.
From PostMediaNews
Sign of the TV times
DVR's given life to shows on verge of cancellation.
Live, on tape, it's the 2010-2011 TV season.
The biggest story so far in the still-young (new) TV season is the one that doesn't show up in the ratings: More and more viewers are turning to DVRs to record their favourite shows one night and then watch them later.
That has turned the traditional ratings system upside down and clouded what is an already cloudy picture for a new TV season that has produced no breakout hits and four casualties so far.
Lone Star, Outlaw, My Generation and The Whole Truth have been cancelled, while new dramas Blue Bloods, No Ordinary Family, Hawaii Five-0 and The Defenders show early signs of being long-term survivors, based on the early numbers.
The weekly ratings only reflect ``live viewing,'' though - those viewers who watch a show as it's being televised.
Increasingly, so-called ``live-plus-seven'' ratings, those numbers that take into consideration the growing number of people who record their favourite shows one night and watch them within the next seven days, are the deciding factor in whether the networks choose to keep or cancel on-the-bubble shows.
Reality TV and live sporting events register their biggest numbers at the time they're shown, for obvious reasons. No one wants to watch the hockey game the next day, or learn who was eliminated on the previous night's Survivor or Dancing with the Stars around the office water cooler.
Serialized dramas and sitcoms can keep, however, and on especially crowded TV nights - Sundays and Thursdays, in particular - more viewers are choosing to record one program while watching another.
The live-plus-seven numbers have already helped such seemingly ratings- challenged series as The Event, Parenthood and Fringe, while some - but not all - initially successful programs are proving even more popular once the DVR figures are factored into the equation.
Hawaii Five-0 has been an early benefactor. Already picked up for the entire season, the updated revival of the popular '70s crime series picked up more viewers in live-plus-seven DVR ratings - three million viewers in the U.S. - than any other series, according to recent figures from Nielsen Media Research in the U.S.
Also performing well in playback were Modern Family, Grey's Anatomy, The Mentalist, 30 Rock and The Office. They all picked up substantially more viewers from their initial broadcast. That's especially telling for Grey's Anatomy, which is already a chart-topper before the live-plus-seven numbers are added.
A quick comparison of the U.S. and Canadian numbers so far show that viewers' tastes are similar, though not identical, on both sides of the border.
The Amazing Race performs better in Canada, relative to the size of the two countries' audiences: The Oct. 17 broadcast topped that week's ratings chart with an astonishing three million viewers - 200,000 more than runner-up The Big Bang Theory.
The Big Bang Theory, the season's biggest question mark following a risky move to a new night - Thursdays from Mondays - has proven to be one of the big surprises: If anything, it is performing better on its new night than it did before, and now shows signs of being one of the most popular, long-lasting sitcoms of the past decade.
Another success story, and the other big surprise of the season, is the sudden rise - in both the U.S. and Canada - of Castle, the lighthearted caper series starring Edmonton-native Nathan Fillion and Hamilton, Ont.-born Stana Katic. Castle is pulling in 1.9 million viewers on competitive, crowded Monday nights in Canada, and a further 12 million viewers in the U.S., where it's handily winning its time period.
Glee performs better in Canada than in the U.S., but is considered a hit in both countries, especially with younger, hard-to-reach viewers. House continues to perform well in Canada, but has lost nearly 20 per cent of its audience year- to-year in the U.S.
Programs performing equally well in both countries include The Mentalist, Criminal Minds, CSI: Miami - also thriving on a new night - Dancing with the Stars, Survivor: Nicaragua and Desperate Housewives.
The Amazing Race, The Big Bang Theory, The Mentalist, Criminal Minds, Grey's Anatomy and CSI: Miami air on CTV. Glee, House, Survivor: Nicaragua and Hawaii Five-O air on Global, while Parenthood, Fringe and The Event air on Citytv.
CBC-TV is not completely shut out of the picture, though it is rare that it places a program in the Top 10, or even Top 20, aside from the occasional Hockey Night in Canada game.
Dragons' Den and Battle of the Blades remain CBC's strongest performers, aside from hockey, with an average 1.5 million viewers apiece. The Rick Mercer Report is the only other CBC program to crack the Top 30 most weeks, with 1.2 million viewers on Tuesday nights.
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