44 In the U.S. — and to some other countries — it has become clear that Sunday is the new Thursday in terms of TV scheduling and viewing habits. In 1993, in the U.S., the NBC TV Network dubbed Thursday “Must See TV” night on their network, but these days more and more viewers are tuning in to the tube on Sunday nights, which in turn means programmers are putting their most popular and buzz-worthy shows on the final night of the weekend. In fact, programming a show on a Sunday has become a way for broadcast and cable networks to communicate to the viewer: This one’s a biggie. According to the Advertising and Audiences Report conducted by U.S. ratings service Nielsen, when it comes to primetime TV usage, Sundays raked in the most viewers during the 2013-2014 season-to-date, with 125 million individuals using their sets. The number decreases slightly with each day, with Monday having the second largest numbers (at 120 million) and Friday in last place (with 107 million), while Saturday has 108 million. Thursday, that old ratings winner, in case you were wondering, brings in 112 million viewers, now ranking fifth, down from number one as recently as 2005. And by 2007, Thursday was the third-most watched night of the week among the 18-to-49 demographic, after Sunday and Monday. But for advertisers, Sunday isn’t as good as Thursday. Advertisers paid higher rates for commercials on Thursday nights because weekends are big shopping times and Thursdays represent advertisers’ best chance to stimulate sales ahead of that, since Fridays are usually nights out for many consumers. Conversely, the popularity of Sundays among viewers may have to do with the fact that these are stay-home nights when viewers like to indulge and stave off the “Monday Blues” the next day. Another theory is that a strong show has the potential to kick off a strong week ahead for the broadcast and cable networks. It’s similar to the idea of a strong program serving as a lead-in for the show that follows it, but in this case the day of the week is the lead-in rather than the time-slot. Of course, it’s important to note that not all shows that are being programmed on Sunday nights are actually being watched then. Americans watched an average of 14.40 hours of time-shifted TV per month (with a total of just about 155 hours of traditional TV a month), according to Nielsen. However, it is not clear if and how technology has had an effect on Sunday becoming the new Thursday. So when did this Sunday trend come about? U.S. premium pay-TV channel HBO is credited by some analysts with starting the trend, when it placed The Sopranos on Sunday night in 1999, leading other cable and broadcast network programmers to follow suit. The New York City-based advertising analyst Jack Myers pointed out that from the times of the Ed Sullivan Show (on CBS from 1948 to 1971), Sunday had been the most popular TV-viewing day of the week. The subsequent move toward Thursday was prompted by theatrical and retail advertisers, who pressured TV networks to build up their Thursday schedules. In effect, summarized Myers, viewers are returning to their natural viewing patterns. In addition, Myers said, “There are two big reasons for the increase on Sunday over Thursday. The primary reason has been NBC’s Sunday Night Football. It greatly boosted NBC’s performance and forced the other networks to become more competitive with their programming. Also, Sunday is a huge night for basic cable (Mad Men, The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, etc.) and pay cable (Game of Thrones, Homeland, etc.), which has added to the competitive nature of the night and, collectively, made Sunday a TV night in America.” For this reason, several high profile premieres are debuting Sunday night this fall. CBS, for one, rolled out one of its most talked-about new shows, Madam Secretary, which is produced by Morgan Freeman, and follows a female Secretary of State, at 8 p.m. on Sunday nights. And according to some programming executives across Europe, the same is happening there. “No doubt that Sundays are a big day for us, and have been for a while. Other broadcasters vary, for some Friday is a big night. But for us Sunday is an important day and we schedule programs accordingly — in primetime,” said Benedicte Steinsrud of SBS Discovery AS in Norway. According to Dermot Horan of RTE in Ireland: “Sunday night is also our biggest viewing night with whole families watching programs together, which doesn’t really happen on other nights. It is the night when we play our biggest Irish-made dramas like Love/Hate. We also play The Fall there, a co-production with the BBC starring Gillian Anderson.” In the U.K., the biggest dramas like Downton Abbey on ITV and Call the Midwife on BBC One air on Sundays, as do the results shows of big entertainment series, like The X-Factor and Strictly Come Dancing. “Saturday, Sunday and Monday are the nights when total viewing levels are highest here in the U.K.,” said David Bergg of ITV. “The biggest entertainment shows are on Saturdays and Sundays. The biggest dramas are on Sundays (Downton Abbey, Mr. Selfridge) and Mondays (Broadchurch).” And it’s not just in Europe. According to Lanny Huang of Promo Group TV in Hong Kong, “Sunday night is gaining popularity. …In Asia, and especially in Hong Kong, now many families and audiences prefer to stay home on Sunday nights. Due to this changing scenario, most TV broadcasters will schedule popular TV game shows or entertainment format shows or movie premieres and even first-run drama series. This is very good news, since the Sunday night slot can attract advertisers, on-air sponsorship, and adsupported programs to bring in more revenues,” she said. By Lucy Cohen Blatter With Sunday Now The New Thursday For Viewers, Advertisers Are Not Happy October 2014 Looking Beyond the Future of TV Advertisers paid higher rates for commercials on Thursday nights because weekends represent big shopping times and Thursdays are advertisers’ best chance to stimulate sales ahead of that. In keeping with the trend, CBS is airingMadam Secretaryon Sunday nights.
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