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Our Pick as Must-Read Story of the Day: News Corp.’s Chase Carey Unhappy About ‘Viewership Patterns’ on Fox Broadcasting. Says Measurement Needs to Be Better

Nov 7, 2012  •  Post A Comment

News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey said fall television ratings for Fox Broadcasting are "below our expectations," and blamed changing viewership patterns rather than mediocre shows, reports Deadline.com.

"There is no question that you are seeing an ongoing change in how people view this content," Carey noted. He spoke on a quarterly conference call to discuss earnings, although News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch didn’t participate.

Carey added that the San Francisco Giants’ four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers in the World Series “was not what we had hoped for," according to the report.

Carey said that as viewers increasingly turn to DVRs, VOD and mobile devices to watch programming, “We need to work with Nielsen and others to see how we measure that viewership.”

“He also would like to see the cable industry move more quickly on initiatives including dynamic ad insertion for VOD, and TV Everywhere,” the piece notes. “’We’re not where we should be’ on that, he says. ‘We need to make sure we continue to grow the business model.’ On the advertising front, Carey says that sales seem to be improving but he sees limits to the market right now.

Given the importance of the comments made in this analysts call about TV, we urge you read the full transcript of the call on the Seeking Alpha website, which you can find if you click here.

To whet your appetite, here’s an edited excerpt:

Jessica Reif Cohen of  Bank of America-Merrill Lynch:

"[L]ove to get your point of view of what do you think is happening with viewers overall? I mean, some networks have very strong ratings. Many, many are down. It really does seem like the appointment viewing is a thing of the past and how [are] you guys thinking about it in terms of how you capture these viewers. [W]hat are the discussions like with Nielsen?"

Unidentified Company Representative:

"I think there is no question that [there] is an ongoing change in how people view this content. I think the content viewership is actually strongest than it’s ever been, the sunlight is stronger than it’s ever been. I think the ability to access content when you want, where you want, multiple platforms, out of the home, in the home makes this content more valuable, but the fact of the matter is people are watching in a lot of different places, not just linear networks.

"Linear networks are going to be tremendously important launching product, but people are watching it on DVRs and digital platforms, on VOD, inside the home, and outside the home and I think we need to continue to work with Nielsen and others to figure out how do we first measure that viewership. Clearly, parts of it like VOD after three days and mobile platforms are being measured.

"We need to get it measured. The dual revenue stream obviously becomes increasing important, TV Everywhere becomes a part of that to make sure you have got business. You have to have the ability [to] get rewarded for that viewership wherever it is. Some of it is going to be through subscription-based payments, some of its going to be through advertising. We need to do both. We need to make sure we find ways to continue to maximize the value of that through things like dynamic ad insertion to make advertising more valuable.

"I think all of these are really opportunities for us to continue to make, to continue to grow this business. Again, I think this actually is a real opportunity because as content gets more valuable, more popular, more important we need to make sure we continue to grow the business model that enable us to get rewarded for creating and distributing great content."

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