By Marcus Casey
May 22, 2003
LIES, damn lies. And then there are statistics. Before we start, some brief background.
During the late 1990s, the Ten network re-invented itself as the one for Generations X and Next to watch.
It zeroed in on the 16 to 39-year-old demographic, talking up its importance to advertisers and successfully owning it for the past two years.
But Ten used different ratings calculation criteria to gauge its performance against Nine and Seven.
It was a cheeky move but, coupled with a low-cost corporate strategy delivering a handsome profit rate, Ten is the envy of competitors even though they publicly knock it.
Ten has largely been left to do its own thing with its numbers. But in the past two weeks, both Seven and Nine have become antsy about its tactics. This is a Big Brother thing.
Now, official prime-time ratings are based on shows watched by all age groups between 6pm and midnight on all five national broadcasters.
But Ten draws figures from 16-39 viewers from 6pm to 10.30pm, excluding the ABC and SBS - thus boiling down figures to show niche advertisers it delivers the people they want.
So, back to BB. It hasn’t been getting anywhere near the ratings of the past two series, its 7pm edition being beaten by Seven’s Home and Away.
Every day Seven, and to a lesser extent Nine, issue comparative stats on BB, indicating it’s a disaster. But each day Ten tells startling stories of BB success.
For the past two weeks Ten has claimed victory in the 16-39 demographic, when in fact Nine has won in the full all-people, 6pm-midnight ratings. Ten also declared BB victory against Home and Away, but again with a 16-39 proviso. H&A won in all people.
Nine and Seven are worried Ten’s plethora of BB success-story statements will create the impression it’s doing well on an all-people, all-prime time scale.
But there’s always a get-out-of-jail, fine-print footnote on Ten’s statements explaining its calculations. Nine and Seven know this, so the recent protestations suggest BB remains a thorn in the side.
WHAT YOU ARE WATCHING (Sydney)
1 60 Minutes 9,Sun 602,010 viewers
2 Logie Awards 9,Sun 591,134 viewers
3 Logie Awards Red Carpet 9,Sun 589,936 viewers
4 Nine News 9,Sun 576,139 viewers
5 Friday Night Football 9,Fri 530,483 viewers
6 CSI 9,Tues 520,232 viewers
7 Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 9,Mon 507,561 viewers
8 Friends 9,Mon 495,001 viewers
9 Getaway 9,Thu 490,613 viewers
10 Better Homes and Gardens 7,Tues 484,562 viewers
Source OzTAM
The Daily Telegraph
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Statistically statistics can statistically be changed to statistically show statistics in a statistical light.
Say that 10 times really fast - I bet you can’t!