A report published this week calls Thursday night, which was once a must-buy for movie studios, “Must Flee TV.”
The report by Ad Age says: “Thursday night has begun to lose its outsized place in the imaginations (and media budgets) of American advertisers, as once-ubiquitous categories like movies and automotive have altered their TV spending strategies to lock in more inventory earlier in the week.”
The strategic shift has a lot to do with delayed viewing, with the report noting that live viewing now accounts for just 51% of overall TV consumption.
“Buyers and sellers say the shift away from Thursday night is a reaction to rapidly changing viewer habits and the increasing adoption of the beefed-up C7 ratings currency,” Ad Age reports. “Simply put, while a heavy emphasis on Thursday primetime buys was once standard operating procedure for studios looking to put fannies in seats during a theatrical’s opening weekend, dwindling Thursday ratings have sent buyers scrambling to secure GRPs on more heavily trafficked nights.”
The report quotes one national TV buyer saying: “Sunday is the new Thursday.” The buyer adds: “It’s a case of money following eyeballs. For as long as I can remember, the thinking was you had to buy Thursday if you were opening a movie, because there was such a short window to create awareness and sell tickets. If you didn’t open big, you were dead.”
Please click on the link near the top of this story to read Ad Age’s full analysis.
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