RESTON, Va., April 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest
information from Comscore (NASDAQ: SCOR), a trusted partner for
planning, transacting, and evaluating media across platforms, shows
that television viewing continues to rise as millions of Americans
enter a new month remaining mostly indoors to comply with public
health measures.
Comscore's insights show that the much higher ratings for local
stations during the pandemic are being driven by a much broader
demographic representation of viewers than is typically observed
during news segments. Several key age ranges are showing
significant year-over-year viewing increases, with 18-34 up 38
percent, and 35-54 up 35 percent.
Among the other notable findings from Comscore's latest
preliminary data through March 22,
2020:
Across all households in the top 25 markets, Comscore observed a
13 percent increase in viewing from the week of March 9, 2020 compared to the week of
March 16, 2020 and a 33 percent
increase from the week of March 18 in
the previous year.
Viewing Trends by Age
Looking first at households with adults ages 50+, these homes
saw increases in viewership compared to both weeks — a 12 percent
viewing increase from the week of March 9,
2020 to March 16, 2020 and a
29 percent increase over the previous year's week of March 18, 2019.
Surprisingly, households with adults ages 18-34 showed the
largest increase in viewership from the same week in 2019.
Viewing Trends by Yearly Household Income Level
Across the top 25 markets, Comscore examined viewership among
households in three income groups: $0-$74,999 yearly
household income, $75,000-$99,999
yearly household income and $100,000+ yearly household income.
Local news viewership jumped significantly from the same week in
2019, especially among middle-earning households in the
$75,000-$99,999 yearly income range, which saw a 50
percent increase in viewership.
Looking at overall increase in average audience rather than the
percentage increase, Comscore found that local news viewing in the
top 25 markets increased by well over a million households making
between $0 and $100,000 each year compared to this time in 2019.
The $75k-$100k income group constitutes the smallest
population of these three income breaks, only making up about 15
million households nationally, which is why it constitutes the
largest percentage increase among the other income breaks, yet the
smallest gross increase. However, these households were likely
among those most impacted by stay-at-home mandates and the closure
of non-essential businesses.
Looking at individual communities, Seattle and New
York showed lower than average week-over-week increases than
the national average when comparing the week of March 16, 2020 to the week of March 9, 2020. This is understandable as these
regions were hit early and hardest by the coronavirus. During the
week of March 16, 2020, viewing
increases were most dramatic in San
Francisco, Dallas, and
other Midwest metropolitan areas.
Viewing Trends by Ethnicity
Changes in television viewership during the coronavirus pandemic
can also be observed among Hispanic and Asian-American households.
The increases were significantly higher when looking at the week of
March 16, 2020 compared to the
previous year. Viewing among Hispanic households is up 42 percent,
while viewing in Asian households increased 62 percent.
Compared to the same week in 2019, there are an average of
around two million more households tuned in to local newscasts in
the top 25 television markets. Nearly half a million of these new
viewing homes are Hispanic households.
"American households are watching more and more local news
across key demographic segments. Advertisers and their agencies can
fine-tune their media planning and buying by continuing to work
with Comscore to understand these ongoing shifts in local
television viewing as engagement remains at unprecedented levels,"
said Bill Livek, CEO, Comscore.
About Comscore
Comscore (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a trusted partner for planning,
transacting and evaluating media across platforms. With a data
footprint that combines digital, linear TV, over-the-top and
theatrical viewership intelligence with advanced audience insights,
Comscore allows media buyers and sellers to quantify their
multiscreen behavior and make business decisions with confidence. A
proven leader in measuring digital and TV audiences and advertising
at scale, Comscore is the industry's emerging, third-party source
for reliable and comprehensive cross-platform measurement. To learn
more about Comscore, visit www.comscore.com.
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SOURCE Comscore