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Introducing MDI Direct: one-stop, on-demand digital access to all of our research annuals, reports and white papers. Since 1982, Media Dynamics, Inc. has been the premier source for independent estimates and analysis of the media and advertising, and now our research is available to you when you need it, accessed instantly through our website, by report title or by topic. Subscribers simply click on the title to view it.
A one-year subscription to MDI Direct gives you access to TV Dimensions, Cross-Platform Dimensions, National TV ACES, CPMTrack, TV Reach Finder, TV Now & Then, and our weekly TVD Alert and bi-weekly CPD Alert reports. In addition, any new research will be posted to MDI Direct at no additional fee, and when new reports are published (e.g. TV Dimensions 2021), the prior edition will be archived to your account.
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National TV ACES 2020-21 TV Season: Upfront TV Network Cost Efficiency Estimates
National TV ACES 2020-21 provides newly updated estimates of cost-per-thousand (CPMs) and cost-per-rating points (CPPs) for the 2020-2021 upfront. It presents our proprietary CPM and CPP projections for all three forms of national TV—broadcast networks, syndication and cable—by daypart and demographics on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis.
Since reports of this nature require considerable explanation and interpretation, we invite interested parties to review the prospectus.
The 2020-2021 upfront season was highly unusual due to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result of uncertainty about whether the networks could produce all of their planned original content as well as new episodes for hold-over programs, and advertiser uncertainty regarding the dire economic plight the nation was in, the upfront developed as a series of long drawn-out negotiations (often advertiser by advertiser), with the buyers resisting hefty CPM increases and insisting on much greater flexibility in exercising cancellation clauses. When the dust finally settled, the sellers obtained much smaller CPM hikes than they would have liked, ranging between 2-4%, with "premium" primetime fare usually on the high end of the scale.
Publish Date: November 2020; 36 pages
STAY INFORMED! CPD and MDI Direct subscribers receive single subject reports of new developments and new research bi-weekly.
Subscribers to Cross Platform Dimensions 2020 or our new MDI Direct subscription service receive Alert reports of new developments and new research, delivered by email on an ongoing and timely basis. These are brief, single subject articles designed to keep you informed as events break or new information becomes available.
CPD ALERTS BY DATE
04/27/21: Podcast Audience Update
04/13/21: Which Medium Is The Champ In Daily Reach Attainment?
03/30/21: TV’s Digital Footprint Keeps Growing
03/16/21: Who Are Social Media News Regulars
03/02/21: Are Larger Audiences Better Audiences?
02/16/21: Media Spending Predictions For 2021
02/02/21: Targeted Media Buys: Who's Kidding Whom?
01/19/21: Generalized "Liking" Studies Offer Insights About Media
01/05/21: A New Case History Favoring A TV & Radio Media Mix
12/08/20: How Many Adults Would Welcome Ad-Supported Streaming Services?
11/17/20: Podcasts Are A Growth Medium
11/03/20: Rating YouTube As a News Source
10/20/20: Short-Term Effects Of Ad Exposure On TV Vs. Digital Platforms
10/06/20: Emerging Sources Of Streaming Content
9/22/20: Frequency Concentration in Media
08/18/20: Wither Co-viewing?
08/04/20: Household Vs. Viewer Ratings: Why It Matters
07/21/20: What Do We Mean By "Viewing," Anyway?
07/07/20: Do Ads Really Follow the Eyeballs?
06/23/20: What Happens in A Media Minute?
06/09/20: The Shape Of Things To Come?
03/10/20: Is A Formula Approach The Way Forward For Comparing Platforms?
02/25/20: Why Can't TV Be Bought The Digital Way?
02/04/20: How Much Social Media Action Do TV Shows Generate?
01/21/20: How Profitable Are Media Ad Sellers?
01/07/20: TV & Digital Video Buying Methods: Will the Twain Ever Meet?
12/03/19: Radio's OOH Audience Isn't Just in Cars
11/12/19: Is Duration Weighting A Bridge Too Far?
10/29/19: 2019 Branding Campaign Spending by Medium
10/15/19: Where Do Adults Usually Get Their Local News?
10/01/19: Reach of Traditional Media Websites
09/17/19: Once Again, Consumers Say They Try to Avoid More Online Ads Than Those for Other Media
09/03/19: Radio's Reach Story is a Good Start, but More is Needed
08/20/19: New Study Says TV Clobbers All Other Media in Ad Effectiveness
08/06/19: Daily Media Reach: A Highly Fragmented Scene
07/23/19: The Neverending Question of How Much Frequency is Too Much or Enough
07/09/19: Selling Your Medium? Talk Marketing to Advertisers
06/18/19: Which Works Best: Creative or Media/TV or Digital?
06/04/19: When Comparing Media, it’s Sales Motivation that Really Counts
05/21/19: TV is Key to Reaching Those who Shun the Internet
05/07/19: Are Podcasts & Online In-Car Listening a Threat to AM-FM Stations?
04/23/19: How Valid are Reach Estimates Across Media?
04/09/19: Are Social Media Users TV Ad Receptive?
03/26/19: Are We Media Watchers, Readers or Listeners?
03/12/19: Digital Gains in Branding Dollars, but TV is Still the Champ
02/26/19: Is Social Media Activity Dominated by Young Adults?
CPMTrack provides considerable detail for national TV (network types, dayparts and, from 1994-95 on, demographics). Significant changes in magazine publishing genres over the years preclude this degree of differentiation, but CPMs by demographics from 2002-present are included for a number of editorial categories, in addition to more general adult CPMs for the top 150 publications. For radio, national spot and network adult CPM estimates on an all-daypart basis are provided.
Publish Date: November 2020; 60 pages
The industry's comprehensive source for evaluating the media as advertising platforms
Media Dynamics, Inc.'s annual report designed to help make realistic evaluations of the audiences and advertising efficacy of TV, digital, radio, print and out-of-home on a comparative basis.
It’s impossible to understate the impact the new and emerging platforms have had on traditional media over the past two decades. Cross-Platform Dimensions is our attempt to quantify these changes and analyze how each of the media perform as advertising vehicles in this new environment. It also interprets what this all means from a media planner's standpoint, and delves into much-discussed areas like how to develop comparable audience metrics across media.
CPD comprises data previously covered in Intermedia Dimensions—audience, time spent, demographics, reach & frequency, CPMs, ad exposure and ad impact—but reassessed for the digital age.
All subscribers to Cross-Platform Dimensions receive Alert reports of new developments and new research, delivered by email on an ongoing and timely basis. These are brief, single subject articles designed to keep you informed as events break or new information becomes available. A complete list of articles to date is available here.
Published: February 2021; 140 pages
Discounts do not apply to book buyers and third party companies; click for rate
TV Dimensions 2021 print and ebook editions now available
TV Dimensions provides the only independent and objective analysis of what's happening in television today. It covers all relevant aspects of the medium's performance, ranging from audience fragmentation, program type appeals, viewer attentiveness, and ad impact metrics to how the TV industry is adapting to ensure its continuing profitability, the competitive inroads made by subscription video on demand (SVOD) and how the upfront time buying process works and can be improved. Crucially, this edition examines the impact that COVID-19 has had on the medium, and TV's future prospects as it emerges from this crisis.
Many analyses are exclusive to TV Dimensions, including how many ads the consumer really sees, estimating ad awareness by GRP level, and upfront ad revenues, as well as our most requested dataset: our annual upfront CPM estimates and trending.
Since 1982, the industry's premier resource on TV as an advertising medium
All subscribers to TV Dimensions receive Alert reports of new developments and new research, delivered by email on an ongoing and timely basis. These are brief, single subject articles designed to keep you informed as events break or new information becomes available. A complete listing of articles to date is available here.
Published: January 2021; 192 pages
Discounts do not apply to book buyers and third party companies; click for rates
Over the past six decades of my career, I have either witnessed or been a participant in all of television's many evolutions and transformations, all the while remaining a fan to this multi-faceted medium. My background is sufficiently varied, so as to enable me to appreciate the many nuances and tradeoffs that are involved in both the business of television and how audiences respond to both ads and programming.
This book focuses on two pivotal aspects: the first is the evolution of the medium's programming and how audiences respond ("How we use it"); and the second concerns the business side—how programs are created, how time is bought and sold, how ads are created and how they function ("How it uses us"). In both cases I have tried to tell it like it is, while still being as objective as possible, despite strong personal feelings I may have about some of the events and practices the book covers.
Published January 2016, 270 pp.
(8/2019) Exclusive! 4-week adult reach tables by GRP level and by demos
INTRODUCING THE 2020 EDITION--AVAILABLE NOW!
use promo code SAVE50 to save $50
This report tackles a long-overdue need: revisiting and revising TV reach tables to accurately reflect today's TV viewing environment.
Because of the increasing rating fragmentation affecting all sectors of linear TV, plus the impact of cord cutting (a more recent phenomenon), MDI has revisited its TV Reach Finder report and fully updated its tables to reflect the current 2019-2020 situation.
It has been evident for some time that long held assumptions about TV's reach capabilities need to be rethought in light of today's audience definitions, rating fragmentation and the constant increases in commercial loads that are causing people to avoid ad messages by skipping commercials and spending more time with ad-free TV. This report analyzes the situation, including comparisons with old TV reach tables, and presents our independent estimates of what TV reach tables should look like today.
Using a variety of sources, including our own estimates, the bulk of this report presents 4-week adult reach tables by GRP level, starting with 1 GRP and rising one point at a time to 500 GRPs, after which we extend the tables to 1000 GRPs in 100 GRP intervals. Tables are provided covering early AM, daytime, early fringe, primetime and late fringe, for 18 basic demos (adults/men/women aged 18+, 18-34, 18-49, 25-54, 55+ and H.H. income $150,000+).
We have also included a formula for combining reach estimates across dayparts, which will be of interest to users of this report.
Detailed information, including the introduction and table guide, is available by clicking on the button to the left.
Editorial Note:
Media Dynamics, Inc. is the source for TV Upfront Report, based on decades of experience and careful review of all of the available research on TV viewing habits, the growth of broadband-only users, and the increased penetration of subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services, such as Netflix and Hulu. We also have had the opportunity to review actual reach tabs made recently and compared them to what the often-outdated reach tables show—some of the contrasts have been shocking, especially for the 18-34s and the affluent segments. Ultimately, we synthesize all of this information into our independent estimates.
Published August 2019; 245 pages
STAY INFORMED! TVD and MDI Direct subscribers receive single subject reports of new developments and new research weekly.
Subscribers to TV Dimensions 2021 or our new MDI Direct subscription service receive Alert reports of new developments and new research, delivered by email on an ongoing and timely basis. These are brief, single subject articles designed to keep you informed as events break or new information becomes available.
TVD ALERTS BY DATE
05/04/21: Does Anyone Trust TV Commercials?
04/27/21: Did Nielsen Undercount TV Viewing During The Pandemic?
04/20/21: Calculating Attentive CPMs--Is The Industry On The Right Track?
04/13/21: Which Medium Is The Champ In Daily Reach Attainment?
04/06/21: Are Streamers’ Motivations And Perceptions Changing?
03/30/21: TV’s Digital Footprint Keeps Growing
03/23/21: TV Trend Comparisons: Who’s Winning The Game?
03/16/21: Don't Look Now But TV Sports Viewers Are Aging Too
03/09/21: History Says We Expect Too Much From TV Audience Surveys
03/02/21: TV's Ad Selling Dreams Might Be A Nightmare
02/23/21: 18-49 and 25-54: Your Day Is Past
02/16/21: The Continued Impact Of Political Leanings On TV News
02/09/21: The Shape Of Things To Come: Evolving Broadcast TV Network Business Plans
02/02/21: Targeted Media Buys: Who's Kidding Whom?
01/26/21: More on TV Attentiveness and "Dwell Time"
01/19/21: Are Short-Form, Single Message TV Commercials More Effective?
01/12/21: The Genre Factor In TV Program Appeals
01/05/21: A New Case History Favoring A TV & Radio Media Mix
12/15/20: Who Streams?
12/08/20: How Many Adults Would Welcome Ad-Supported Streaming Services?
12/01/20: Is TV News Becoming More Attractive to the Younger Viewer?
11/17/20: How TV Ad Clutter Looks To Viewers
11/10/20: How Many TV Commercials Are We Really “Bombarded” With?
11/03/20: Will SVOD/AVOD Change TV’s Audience Profile?
10/27/20: TV’s 2020-21 Primetime Upfront: What Happened?
10/20/20: Short-Term Effects Of Ad Exposure On TV Vs. Digital Platforms
10/13/20: Do Our Political News Sources Cater To Us, Or Vice-Versa?
10/06/20: Emerging Sources Of Streaming Content
09/29/20: Video Game Advertising: Has Its Time Come?
09/22/20: Is There a Problem with Local TV Impressions and Ratings?
09/15/20: The Impact Of Covid-19 On Linear TV Usage
09/08/20: How Will Our TV Usage Change By 2025?
08/25/20: Does Anyone Watch TV Commercials? An Important Question Revisited
08/18/20: Wither Co-viewing?
08/11/20: Rising TV Ad Clutter and Its Implications
08/04/20: Household Vs. Viewer Ratings: Why It Matters
07/28/20: Better Targeting and Its Impact on ROI
07/21/20: What Do We Mean By "Viewing," Anyway?
07/14/20: The Ideal TV Rating Service: Dream Vs. Reality
07/07/20: Do Ads Really Follow the Eyeballs?
06/23/20: A Real World Assessment Of Frequency Capping
06/16/20: TV's Premium Ad Breaks: Should the Idea Be Expanded?
06/09/20: The Shape of Things to Come?
03/17/20: The Disconnect Between Audience Buying And Actual TV Consumption
03/10/20: TV Channel Access & Usage: Past, Present and Future
02/25/20: Why Can't TV Be Bought The Digital Way?
02/11/20: More Insights About TV Commercial Exposure From TVision
02/04/20: What Does The Future Hold For The Impact Of The “Streaming Wars”?
01/28/20: How Much Will TV's Linear vs. Streaming Audience Change Between 2020-2025?
01/21/20: How Profitable Are Media Ad Sellers?
01/14/20: Does Anyone Really Watch TV Commercials?
01/07/20: TV & Digital Video Buying Methods: Will the Twain Ever Meet?
12/03/19: New TVision Take on Commercial Attentiveness by Daypart
11/19/19: Which TV Genres Benefit The Most From Delayed Viewing?
11/12/19: New Data On Subscription TV, Plus What’s Ahead
11/05/19: Non-Linear TV Content Streaming Is Not As Extensive As Believed
10/29/19: 2019 Branding Campaign Spending by Medium
10/22/19: The U.S. Government Finds that "TV" Viewing is on the Rise
10/15/19: How Important are Sports & News to "Pay TV"?
10/08/19: TV Commercial Exposure
10/01/19: Advertisers Spend More to Reach Viewers in Sports and News
09/24/19: What Do Streamers Watch?
09/17/19: The Evolution of TV Program Sources & Their Impact Over Time
09/10/19: How Fast is TV Losing its Audience?
09/03/19: OTT & Linear TV: Not an Either/Or Proposition
08/20/19: New Study Says TV Clobbers All Other Media in Ad Effectiveness
08/13/19: Assessing the 2019-20 Upfront
08/06/19: How Substantial is Linear TV's Digital Audience Lift?
07/30/19: Let's Upgrade our National TV Ratings so They Mean Something
07/23/19: The Neverending Question of How Much Frequency Is Too Much or Enough
07/16/19: Netflix Subscribers Gravitate Mainly to Non-Netflix Original Fare
07/09/19: What Happens If Netflix Decides to Sell Ads?
06/25/19: TV's Solitary Viewing on the Rise
06/18/19: TV's Rising Ad Clutter Problem and a Possible Solution
06/11/19: A Proposal to Change TV’s Upfront for the Better
06/04/19: Surprise, Surprise: Primetime TV Ad Clutter Remained the Same as Last Year
05/28/19: Pay TV “Nevers”…but not Forever?
05/21/19: Millennials’ and Boomers’ Favorite TV/Video Shows & Networks Aren’t as Different as You Might Expect
05/14/19: Is Co-viewing a Plus for Advertisers?
05/07/19: Examining TV’s Imbalance of Content Access & Usage
04/30/19: Local News Access is Strong
04/23/19: TV Commercial Effectiveness by Length
04/09/19: Are Social Media Users TV Ad Receptive?
04/02/19: Second Screen Access While Watching TV Increasing Only Slightly?
03/26/19: The March of Time: Aging & Its Impact on TV Consumption
03/19/19: Cord Cutting Continues, but Where is it Going?
03/12/19: Digital Gains in Branding Dollars, but TV is Still the Champ
03/04/19: Profiling TV’s Connected Audience by Age & Time of Day
02/26/19: Another Study Using Eye Tracking Compares TV Commercial Lengths
02/19/19: How People Get their TV Matters to TV Programmers
02/13/19: Where do Out-of-Home TV Sports Viewers See their Teams in Action?
02/05/19: Did TV Dramatically Trim its Ad Loads this Season?
SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE
The pandemic of 2020 has disrupted the media world. But certain things are unlikely to change, for example, the question, "How many viewers actually watch commercials?" is certain to come up again and again. Since interesting new data is available on this important subject, we are making a special "get to know us" offer to potential new subscribers which provides three interesting articles on this subject for the nominal price of $95. These are:
Does Anyone Watch TV Commercials?
More Insights About TV Commercial Exposure From TVision
What About Attentive Time Spent?
Each article is short and to the point, with a table or two in support of the commentary. The first article gives a historical perspective of observational studies of commercial exposure from the 1950s to the current time, with some surprising findings. The second article shows current data about commercial attentiveness by age and how it varies by show. The third article contains our exclusive estimates for all media of how much fully attentive time is spent with their editorial and ad content—it may surprise you.