C5 Reduce Impact Forecasts
Channel 5’s sales director Nick Milligan has had to reduce his initial forecasts for share of adult and 16-34 impacts. Milligan has written to agencies saying that, due to analysis of the first Channel 5 BARB data, he has dropped his adult impacts forecast from 10% by the end of the year to 7% and reduced the 16-34 impacts to 10% by the end of the year..
Despite this, in a report published by the new broadcaster, it claims that it has been a commercial success since it launched at the end of March, with BARB figures showing that the commercial share of TV viewing has gone over 57% – its highest level for four years. C5 says that “this has increased the volume of impacts, justifying the advertising industry’s initial lobbying for the creation of a 5th channel.”
Other findings of the report include:
- Reach: Nearly 60% of homes have now tuned into C5. The cumulative 3 minute reach in the first nine weeks on air is 57.8% of all UK homes. This is rising between 1% and 1.5% a week.
- Share: 5 has an average weekly viewing share of 2.7% in all homes and a 5% share in homes which can receive the channel. In these homes the number of viewing hours for lighter, younger viewers has increased. 5 aims to have a 5% share of all viewing by the end of the year and it believes that this will be achieved when nine new transmitters are switched on in the Autumn.
- Coverage and distribution: Potential coverage is, by definition, greater than current reach at any time, probably by 5-10% of homes. All cable and satellite homes are within 5’s coverage, but only about 75% of them are so far tuned in. The channel experienced the least channel share erosion of all the terrestrials in these homes, which 5 puts down to the better picture quality being received. 5’s marketing department is continuing to work on a variety of strategies to improve distribution and build reach.
- Poland v England: The peak live audience was 5 million viewers (25% share) for the final 15 minutes of the match, which represents a 40% share of viewing in homes so far tuned into 5. 5 also earned a 15.6% share of all viewing during peak time and its 10% share of viewing through the day of May 31 as a whole “outstripped both BBC2 and Channel 4”. An NOP Omnibus research study at the weekend also showed that: 61% of those who watched the game said it was very important to them that Channel 5 had shown the match; 34% said it had changed their opinion of 5 for the better; 75% said the commentary, by Jonathan Pearce, was good.
- Regions: In ITV regions with the most 5 homes, its audience is predictably higher. In STV’s region, 5’s share is 5.8%, in Central 5.7% and in Granada 5.4%. Areas of low penetration have the weakest share due to “both bad or non-existent reception and lower amounts of local publicity”.
- Audience: BARB data shows that 34% of C5 viewers are 16-34s, compared to 24% for ITV and 27% for C4. It is also attracting more men than ITV: 40% v 35% and more children: 13% v 10%.
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