Fewer viewers are tuning in to watch reruns of prime time shows, partly because of new technologies like personal video recorders and television networks placing full episodes online. A few years ago, a repeat broadcast of a prime time drama could draw about 80% of the audience as a new episode. Today, it brings in just about 60% of the audience.Sure, the networks make some revenue off of programs they sell through services like iTunes or post on their own websites. And they may even be driving up audiences for their programs, boosting the number of eyeballs watching television, where the real money is.
But since it's easy for viewers to catch up on old episodes without waiting for reruns, the ratings for repeats are starting to tank, driving networks to spend more money on original content during the summer and other periods that have usually been dominated by repeats.
[via HDTiVo Blog]















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-06-2007 @ 3:21PM
Jaymez said...
I refuse to watch reruns of most primetime shows. If it's an episode of Mythbusters, yeah, I'll check it out again. I won't watch the same House twice, though.
If I have to work year round, save for a few weeks here and there, they should too.
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4-06-2007 @ 3:23PM
edd said...
I download all my TV. I really do not care for- or get the point of - shampoo, washing up liquid, insurance adverts as a way of paying for my TV. In this day and age, I would much rather pay, say, 50c (30p) per episode to download then keep it forever.Andthe maths works on that - over a season (of 20 eps) they would get $10 per season, which is surely more than they get for DVD sales (after taking off overheads for production, distribution, retailers costs, transport etc.
Doing that math a show like Arrested Development, with a spupposed core of 3m viewers (according to Neilson), would generate $30m which would have led the show to break-even. Add in international viewers and it shows the idiocy of only caring about first-run revenue, based on he number of eyeballs you get staring at two women in a kitchen cooing over Persil's 'new' formula.
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4-06-2007 @ 3:39PM
mikedt said...
Or maybe rerun viewership is down because people have 100 channels to pick from? I know I've reached the point that instead of watching a rerun I'll watch one of the other dozen shows that is up against it in the same time slot.
Add in the fact that many of the non big 3 networks stagger their season start/stop dates, there's little reason to watch a repeat unless you really want to.
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4-06-2007 @ 3:48PM
erroneous_nick said...
I've never watched reruns except for the kind of shows like Mythbusters, as Jaymez used for an example. I would seriously consider paying for downloadable episodes of television shows if the price weren't so outrageous. $2 for a single episode is ridiculous, but if the price were more along the lines of what edd has mentioned (50 cents per), I'd be on it like a hound dog on a june bug.
I'm glad the networks are having to crank out original content in the "off season". I watch television all year long, so it'd be nice to have something new to watch and not only reruns. Unfortunately, I think a lot of that original content is just reality dreck.
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4-06-2007 @ 3:56PM
TomB said...
I really doubt that TV reruns online has anything to do with the declining audience for network reruns. I agree with mikedt: There's just more programming to choose from now. Why watch something you've already seen before?
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4-06-2007 @ 4:20PM
Jgavinmcdevitt said...
What are your sources on these statements in your piece - you source nothing.
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4-06-2007 @ 4:31PM
RG said...
I'd wagger that this decline has more to do with TIVO and DVR more than the internet. I tend to watch an average of three shows each hour due to DVR now. I don't think I've seen more than 20 shows on the internet. Additionally, as others have stated during repeat times there are loads of new shows I watch instead.
RG
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4-06-2007 @ 6:31PM
Dave said...
I think shows should come all at once, say Heroes. 21 episodes.
Episode 1 - Sunday @ 8
Episode 2 - Sunday @ 9
Episode 3 - Sunday @ 10
Episode 4 - Monday @ 8
Episode 5 - Monday @ 9
Episode 6 - Monday @ 10
......................
Episode 19 - Saturday @ 8
Episode 20 - Saturday @ 9
Episode 21 - Saturday @ 10
Wow, that was a good show. What's on Next Week?
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4-06-2007 @ 6:33PM
Brad Linder said...
Dave: Thanks to my PVR, that's how I watch shows whenever I can make myself wait until the end of the season. For example, I haven't watched a single episode of 24 from this season yet.
Of course, that means I have to avert my eyes every time I see someone's written up something 24-related on TV Squad!
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4-06-2007 @ 6:59PM
David Souza said...
I think it is about more of the abundnace of content out there, rather than the shows are available for download. Between podcasts, television, online news, and everything else... I never have time for everything anymore!
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4-06-2007 @ 7:49PM
Porchland said...
Hey, No. 6: He cites Variety. Read the article.
Also, I'm waiting for the day Apple hooks up with a serious producer and puts together brand-name stars for a show that will only be available on iTunes.
If Apple produces a "Sopranos"-caliber hit that never airs on network or cable, the whole notion of appointment viewing will start heading downhill fast.
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4-07-2007 @ 12:18AM
David said...
I think DVD sales have something too. Say you like Lost, then you would wait for the DVD set to watch them all at once. But say it's an episode of House, CSI, L&O, why watch them again? You already know what will happen, they get the disease or the the bad guy nand win.
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4-07-2007 @ 7:34PM
LC said...
I agree with mikedt. Especially since cable airs seasons in the split format or air their entire season during rerun time. Stargate, BSG, Eureka, The 4400, The Soprano's, etc. I would rather watch new shows of different series than watch shows I have already seen.
The only time I ever watch reruns is if the show has been off the air for several seasons and I get a bit nostalgic.
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4-07-2007 @ 7:34PM
Kathleen Harris said...
I have a habit of catching onto a show in its 2nd or 3rd season, such as House and Bones. So there are no repeats.
But it pisses me off, when a new show UGLY BETTY, runs reruns in the 1st season. You have only had 12 episodes on. Stop re-running them in the 1st season.
Kathy
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4-07-2007 @ 7:35PM
Jennifer said...
Hey #12 Variety has now become the source for television ratings analysis?
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