What is your favorite "sweeps" moment or event? Was it Who Shot J.R., Rachel having her baby on Friends or finding out your local TV personality uses the most high-tech weather equipment in the country?
You turn your TV on and know what time of the year it is just by the ads and season finales. That's right—it's sweeps time! Thursday, Oct. 29 officially started November Sweeps. Sweeps, aka Nielsen ratings period or "the book," is the quarterly audience measurement system developed by The Nielsen Company (formerly ACNielsen). Diaries are sent to households all over the country, and household members are asked to record what shows they watched and for how long, along with age and other demographic information.
Why is sweeps so important to our clients' business?
Networks use the ratings to set rates on their programming. As an agency, it is our job to look beyond the numbers. Clients rely on OUR expertise in interpreting the data. American Idol has been #1 nationwide for the past five years, but does that mean we should always buy the #1 program for our client? What if our client's message is to sell denture cream and the target demo is Adults 65+? Obviously, not a smart choice. We have to look beyond just the ratings and partner with our stations to help us determine the right strategy for our client.
Why do TV stations (and cable networks to some degree) go all out during the Sweeps periods?
To lure viewers and set rates! WYFF runs promos every other commercial about the news personalities and the special weather equipment. Fox Carolina airs their undercover investigative reports as they ride along with the men in blue and bust several dozen drug dealers on the streets of Greer. As interpreters of the data, we have to see how a program trends over a four-book average (February, May, July and November). Yes, Jim's and Pam's wedding on The Office was awesome...but how has The Office been trending for the past four books? Is there a steady decline/increase in households watching?
One thing I remember as a child growing up in Greenville was all of the commercials about WYFF—Your Friend Four and the "Charlie Said It Would" umbrellas seemed like they were on 24-7! My family just purchased the cable box for our house and only had like 13 channels. We had to turn the channel at the knob, so we were limited in our choices of TV programming :). Was this a sweeps stunt, where a station invested air time and money to promote their personalities? Oh yeah!
So what is your favorite "sweeps" moment or event?
Stay tuned for more information on the Jackson Marketing Group Book Buster, where we present details and trends from the past four books in the GSAA market.