 |
 |
|
"Koeppel Direct's media buying expertise has played an integral role in making my company successful. Koeppel generated so much business for our company, occasionally we have to limit their media buys, in order to handle all of the new business." | |
| - R. Gregg Marketer of Senior Products |
|
MEDIA BUYING DIRECT RESPONSE TELEVISION (DRTV) ARTICLE ...... |
ABC show must find itself again after O'Donnell
By: Toni Fitzgerald
Published: 04/07 Media Life Magazine |
| |
With Rosie O'Donnell's brief, often tumultuous and very highly rated reign at "The View"
coming to an end in June, the aging ABC show is facing a number of questions.
Who will be the new co-host? What creative direction will the revamped "View" take after becoming increasingly
political and often nasty with O'Donnell?
And most importantly, how much, if any, of the ratings gains made with O'Donnell can the show sustain?
It may be months before any of these questions are answered, and the obvious danger is that choosing the wrong new co-host
could hurt the revived 10-year-old show's standing with both viewers and advertisers.
Before O'Donnell, "The View" was seen by media buyers as a smart show but one that had never completely reached its
potential. O'Donnell brought the viewers, proving that potential. But the likelihood of finding a replacement with
that same draw--but without O'Donnell's volatility--would appear slight.
"I feel that Rosie was able to draw viewers who both liked and disliked her. It might be difficult to find someone else
who would have the same type of appeal," says Peter Koeppel, president of Dallas-based media buying agency Koeppel
Direct.
In many ways, the show will be rebuilding. Co-creator Barbara Walters has long wanted "The View" to focus on intelligent,
insightful dialogue about the day's issues, but with O'Donnell it often devolved into loud partisan bickering.
That helped the show jump 17 percent year to year to an average 3.56 million total viewers, yet Walters often looked
uncomfortable while O'Donnell attacked other celebrities and belittled conservative co-host Elisabeth
Hasselbeck.
Walters could choose to steer the show in a less political, more dignified direction, and that will be reflected in her
choice for the new co-host.
By yesterday afternoon candidates for the co-host spot already were being mentioned.
Several well-known newswomen who recently lost their jobs on cable would fit in nicely, including Court TV's Catherine
Crier, CNN's Soledad O'Brien and MSNBC's Rita Cosby and Connie Chung. They'd likely mesh with Walters and be capable of
more informed discussion than O'Donnell.
It would be hard to match O'Donnell's ability to draw ratings, but a number of established entertainers with large fan
bases have also been mentioned: Kathie Lee Gifford, comedians Wanda Sykes, Kathy Griffin and Whoopi Goldberg, and Joan
Rivers, who was just booted from TV Guide Channel. Choosing one of them would preserve O'Donnell's edge as well as her
comedy.
No matter who is chosen or what tone the show adopts, "The View" will be lucky to hang on to even a fraction of the
roughly half-million new viewers who tuned in this year to watch O'Donnell.
Since she joined in September, the show's women 18-49 average rating has jumped nearly 20 percent year to date. Already
yesterday posters on message boards on TV and newspaper sites were pledging they would stop watching when she leaves,
presumably for a new syndicated talk show in fall 2008.
Yet the biggest question facing "The View" in the long term may not be who will replace O'Donnell but how long Walters
will stick around. The 77-year-old newswoman retired from "20/20" several years ago and while she seems as energetic as
ever, she will likely tire of the daily drain at some point. If she leaves, so likely will "The View."
Meanwhile, in other daypart ratings for the week ended April 15, NBC's "Meet the Press" was again first among Sunday
morning shows, averaging 4.04 million total viewers and a 1.1 rating among adults 25-54. CBS's "Face the Nation" was
second in viewers with 3.27 million and 25-54s with a 1.0 rating, followed by ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos"
with 2.86 million and a 0.9, and Fox "News Sunday" in fourth place with 1.4 million and a 0.5 among adults 25-54.
In late night, NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" was first for the week, averaging 5.7 million total viewers and a 1.8
rating among adults 18-49. "The Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS had 4.2 million viewers and a 1.3 rating in the
demo, with ABC's "Nightline" averaging 3.5 million viewers and a 1.1 rating. In late late night, NBC's "Late Night with
Conan O'Brien" had 2.3 million total viewers and a 1.0 in 18-49s, CBS's "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" had 1.9
million viewers and a 0.7, with ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" averaging 1.8 million viewers and a 0.6, and NBC's "Last Call
with Carson Daly" bringing in 1.4 million viewers and a 0.6 among 18-49s.
In morning shows, NBC's "Today" was first with 5.4 million total viewers and a 4.2 household rating and 15 share, followed
by ABC's "Good Morning America" with 4.6 million viewers and a 3.6/13. CBS's "Early Show" was third with 2.7 million total
viewers and a 2.2/8.
In daytime, CBS again had the largest audience for both daytime dramas and full daytime, 3.9 million and 4.26 million,
respectively, but was second among women 18-49 for daytime dramas with a 1.4 rating and full daytime with a 1.3. ABC
had the second-largest audience with 3.12 million watching its dramas and 3.24 million for full daytime, and was
first among women 18-49 with a 1.5 rating for both dramas and full daytime. NBC had an audience of 2.18 million for
both dramas and full daytime, and was third with a 1.2 rating in women 18-49 for both.
In evening network news for the week ended April 22, NBC's "Nightly News with Brian Williams" regained the top spot
among total viewers and 25-54s after two weeks in second place, with an average of 8.57 million viewers and a 2.3 25-54
rating. ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson" was second, averaging 8.48 million viewers and a 2.1 among 25-54s,
while CBS's "Evening News with Katie Couric" was third for the week with 6.57 million total viewers and a 1.8 25-54
rating.
Click Here to view the entire article
|
| |
|
|
|
