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 Amici, Family Matters, the Golden Girls e 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 (Amici, La teoria del Big Bang e Two-and-a-Half Men) are no longer solely available through traditional syndicated TV programming. Amici, 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.
L'elevato numero di spettatori dei programmi popolari in syndication tra le varie piattaforme evidenzia un dato fondamentale: renderli disponibili in piรน luoghi aumenta effettivamente il numero totale di spettatori. In questo modo, le emittenti non dovrebbero rinunciare a possibili accordi di syndication solo perchรฉ un programma potrebbe essere disponibile anche altrove. Queste aggiunte, a loro volta, andrebbero a vantaggio anche degli inserzionisti.
ร difficile immaginare che i consumatori non abbiano bisogno di una bella risata al giorno d'oggi, ma i dati regionali evidenziano che i comportamenti di visione delle commedie sono tutt'altro che analoghi tra i vari mercati. Per esempio, l'anno scorso la persona media di Pittsburgh ha guardato due ore e 25 minuti di programmi comici alla settimana, un tempo nettamente superiore ai 49 minuti trascorsi dagli spettatori di Salt Lake City. La differenza รจ ancora piรน marcata su base annua: 126 ore a persona contro 43.
Programming preferences are equally varied, with Amici, Big Bang Theory e 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 e 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.
*Sourcing e metodologia
La visione di commedie come riferimento in questa analisi include tutti i programmi che rientrano nei generi Comedy Variety e Situation Comedy in NNTV (Nielsen National TV View) e NLTV (Local TV View). Per gli anni 2019 e 2020 sono state incluse tutte le trasmissioni in onda via radio, via cavo e in syndication. La visione si basa solo sul PUT tradizionale (live+time-shifting) sul televisore. ร escluso lo streaming o la visione tramite dispositivi digitali. I minuti lordi visti sono calcolati utilizzando la durata totale del programma in tutte le trasmissioni e il progetto di visione sulla popolazione totale.
