Who needs a good laugh? These days, after crossing the one-year mark of living in a pandemic, who doesnโt?
Perhaps a sign that consumers are longing for the good times, they are literally watching shows like Good Times. Itโs true, the growing abundance of media choices is helping people across the country find something to smile about when they want to turn away from the news and get that happy feeling again. And comedy programs are coming to the rescue.
While the comedy genre is always popular, comedy viewing* over the past year highlights a resurgence of nostalgia comedy programming, particularly shows featuring diverse leads and cast members. Family Matters, for example, which was produced between 1989 and 1998 and features an all-black cast, saw a massive spike in viewership across national TV last year. Specifically, people ages 2 and older watched almost 11.4 billion minutes of the program last year, almost 400% more than in 2019, when viewers watched just 2.3 billion minutes.
While many Americans gravitated to their funny old favorites in 2020, it wasnโt a blockbuster year for the comedy genre overall. In fact, comedy viewing was down 9% nationally compared with 2019. With much of our attention focused on COVID-19, racial injustice and the presidential election, the dip isnโt surprising. That said, our data makes it clear that when audiences needed a break from reality, they traveled back in time to tried-and-true picks like Teman-teman, Family Matters, the Golden Girls dan Two and a Half Men, which, combined, accounted for more than 234 billion viewing minutes throughout the year.
Even with the dip in minutes viewed, the 1.3 trillion minutes of viewed comedy programming across national television last year highlights a very important insight: Despite an array of licensing deals with streaming services, revered comedy programming is just as big of an asset for local and national TV programming as it is for streaming platforms. The Office, for example, which made streaming news late last year when it was announced that the show would jump to a different streaming platform, garnered strong viewership throughout 2020 across both traditional TV programming and Netflix.
The viewership of The Office across traditional TV and Netflix highlights both the massive appeal of the program and how varied consumersโ TV behaviors are. Importantly, viewership of the program across Netflix did not have a negative impact on linear viewing last year, as consumers watched 4% more minutes of the show in 2020 on traditional TV than they did in 2019.
The appeal of nostalgia comedy programming and its availability across multiple platforms bodes well for other streaming platforms as well, as the top three comedy titles of 2020 (Teman-teman, Teori Big Bang dan Two-and-a-Half Men) are no longer solely available through traditional syndicated TV programming. Teman-teman, for example, racked up almost 97 billion minutes of viewing across national TV last year, making it the most-viewed comedy show of 2020. And now that itโs available on HBO Max in the U.S. and Netflix in Canada, Australia and the U.K., total viewership in 2021 will grow the programโs audience much more broadly.
Tingginya jumlah penonton program sindikasi populer di berbagai platform menyoroti temuan penting: membuat program tersebut tersedia di lebih banyak tempat sebenarnya meningkatkan jumlah penonton. Jadi dengan demikian, lembaga penyiaran tidak perlu menghindar dari kemungkinan kesepakatan sindikasi hanya karena sebuah program mungkin juga tersedia di tempat lain. Penambahan ini, pada gilirannya, akan menguntungkan pengiklan juga.
Sulit untuk membayangkan konsumen tidak membutuhkan tawa saat ini, tetapi data regional menyoroti bahwa perilaku menonton komedi jauh berbeda di seluruh pasar. Sebagai contoh, rata-rata orang di Pittsburgh menonton program komedi selama dua jam 25 menit setiap minggunya tahun lalu, yang secara dramatis lebih tinggi daripada 49 menit yang dihabiskan pemirsa di Salt Lake City untuk menonton acara komedi setiap minggunya. Perbedaannya bahkan lebih jelas lagi setiap tahunnya: 126 jam per orang vs 43 jam.
Programming preferences are equally varied, with Teman-teman, Big Bang Theory dan Two and a Half Men ranking as the top three comedy programs across 42 designated market areas (DMAs). Meanwhile, unlike viewers across the rest of the U.S., viewers in Greensboro-H.Point-W.Salem and in Raleigh-Durham rank the Andy Griffith show as their favorite comedy.
In times of disruption and uncertainty, few would argue that the comedy genre is a welcomed diversion. Disruption makes viewers reach for the tried while uncertainty drives us toward the true. And generally speaking, good comedy is timeless, as evidenced by notable viewership spikes in programs as diverse as the Golden Girls, George Lopez, Full House dan Hoganโs Heroes. After a year of isolation, with the road ahead brightening, but still unsure, as more nostalgic programs find their way to new platforms and channels, thereโs little doubt that along with our hopes, viewership will continue to rise.
*Sumber dan Metodologi
Tayangan komedi yang dirujuk dalam analisis ini mencakup semua program yang termasuk dalam genre Komedi Variety dan Komedi Situasi di NNTV (Nielsen National TV View) dan NLTV (Local TV View). Semua siaran televisi yang ditayangkan di seluruh siaran, kabel, dan sindikasi disertakan untuk tahun 2019 dan 2020. Penayangan didasarkan pada PUT Tradisional (siaran langsung + pergeseran waktu) di pesawat TV saja. Segala bentuk streaming atau penayangan melalui perangkat digital tidak termasuk. Menit bruto yang ditonton dihitung dengan menggunakan total durasi program di seluruh penayangan dan penayangan proyek di seluruh populasi.
