Network Home To Some Of The Most Time-Shifted Originals On Television Will Report Ratings On A Live+2.9999 Basis Going Forward*
New York, NY – April 1, 2015 – IFC today announced that it would lead the industry in a shift to a slightly off version of the current live+3 ratings reporting metric: live+2.9999. The network, home to some of the most time-shifted original programming on television, will use live+2.9999 ratings as its default audience category in all future ratings announcements.
“There is no question that viewer behavior has changed in an on demand world, and a time-shifted metric provides a more complete and accurate reflection of audience size than the immediacy of live+same day results,” said IFC President Jennifer Caserta. “Many leading networks have already embraced live+3 as a reporting standard but, at IFC, our alternative comedies are seeing such significant time-shifting activity that we really don’t think we need that last ten-thousandth of a day to accurately assess and communicate viewership of our shows. We are good with a slightly off live+2.9999, and that will be our proud standard.”
Throughout its most recent fifth season, IFC’s signature show Portlandia averaged an increase of 108 percent in adults 18-49 live+3 viewership over live+same day. Individual episodes of Portlandia this season have seen audience expansion within three days of up to 179 percent.
Other IFC originals also demonstrate significant time-shifted gains. The first ten episodes of the current fourth season of Comedy Bang! Bang! saw an 81 percent adults 18-49 audience growth within three days, the second season of Maron grew 56 percent, The Spoils of Babylon 69 percent. On average, premiere episodes of the network’s original programming in 2014 grew 73 percent in live+3 ratings over live+same day.
*Since Nielsen has not yet developed a live+2.9999 ratings category, IFC will continue to default to live+3 in reporting viewership in this interim period.
About IFC
IFC is the home of offbeat, unexpected comedies. Series like Portlandia, Maron and Comedy Bang! Bang! air alongside fan-favorite movies and comedic cult TV shows. Owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc., along with sister channels AMC, BBC America, SundanceTV and WE tv, IFC is available to more than 73 million U.S. homes and across multiple platforms. IFC: Always On Slightly Off
# # #