Glee has the highest percentage of upscale viewers (18-to-49 viewers in $100,000-plus homes) among shows in broadcast primetime among the top 4 networks. Community and Parks and Recreation are marginally rated shows that may have enhanced future prospects because of their upscale viewership.
The ratings in the first list below are the average percentage of adults 18-49 in homes with household incomes over $100,000 viewing each show. In general, the top shows with upscale viewers tend to be the same as the top shows with all 18-49 viewers. However, the second list, which has the shows with the relatively highest Index of upscale viewers, has a few interesting members that aren't typically in the top 25 shows for adults 18-49 (Glee, 30 Rock, 60 Minutes, Community, Brothers & Sisters, Parks & Recreation).
While we don't see enough information like this on an ongoing basis to use it in our prediction of likely show futures, I think it's quite reasonable to expect that having a relatively upscale viewership enhances the future prospects of marginally rated shows like Community and Parks and Recreation.
Highest-Rated Upscale Series
"House" (7.8), Fox
"The Office" (7.6), NBC
"Sunday Night Football" (7.5), NBC
"Big Bang Theory" (7.2), CBS
"Desperate Housewives" (6.7), ABC
"Private Practice" (6.2), ABC
"Glee" (6.0), Fox
Two and a Half Men" (5.9), CBS
"30 Rock" (5.4), NBC
Upscale Series with Highest Indexes
"Glee" (146), Fox
"30 Rock" (142), NBC
"The Office" (139), NBC
"Community" (131), NBC
"60 Minutes" (129), CBS
"Brothers & Sisters" (127), ABC
"Private Practice" (126), ABC
"How I Met Your Mother" (124), CBS
"Parks & Recreation" (122), NBC
via MediaPost
hmm, cool that Parks made the list!
Yay, Glee totally deserves the viewers it’s been amazing!
Happy for Parks and Rec as well, here’s hoping for a 3rd season!
Oooh.. I am also happy that Parks made the list, but it is once again the weakest link on the night. Last in viewers, demo, and now this. I hope they keep it for a ssn 3 anyway.
I suppose 122 isn’t that far behind 131, but I wish its score was switched with Community.
upscale viewers? sounds snobbish.
Between me and my relatives we make over 100,000 dollars, but I don’t feel upscale. I still consider myself broke as hell.
To Errol’s point, this is a household metric, and not necessarily (though in some cases it definitely is) PEOPLE with more than $100K in annual income.
The last time we posted about $100K/yr annual income houses someone asked how many households that is — for anyone interested:
Of the total 114.9 million TV homes in the U.S. there are approximately 26 million homes earning more than $100k per year. That is 22.6% of the U.S.
I know many millionaires who don’t ‘feel’ upscale. The truth of the matter is that the upper-middle class consider themselves middle class and the lower middle class also consider themselves middle class. If your household brings home greater than 100K then you are part of just 16% of households who can claim that.
Hm, that’s odd. Robert where did you get your data from? The stuff I have is from 2006, is yours more recent?
The data is from the Nielsen universe estimates for the 2009-2010 season and was provided by Nielsen.
By the way, the reason the higher concentration index (in this case an index expressing only a percentage concentration versus the average concentration) is important is that the ads are still basically bought and sold as ratings points of adults 18-49, so these shows become relative bargains for reaching high income homes.
Shows like Community can wind up being a bargain in terms of the relative cost to reach affluent viewers than shows like House or Grey’s. You can get many more of them with Grey’s and House, but the $cost/per affluent household is less for the shows with the higher concentration.
Shows like Community and Parks & Rec don’t necessarily get to sell their ads at a premium as a result, but the ad sales themselves become easier despite being lower-rated.
Thanks for that. I was looking at U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2007 Annual Social and Economic Supplement. Close to the same numbers which I found odd.
Interesting considering Glee is about the underdog and down trodden.
Food for thought…perhaps this is a key reason why My Name Is Earl was canceled? I can’t imagine it attracted upscale viewers the way the other comedies did…and the numbers seemed to indicate that half its audience didn’t even watch the rest of the NBC comedy block.
Where does a show like NCIS fall? Is it a universal hit or does it skew to a larger but poorer audience?
Its funny because I’m one of these $100,000+ households and I watch maybe 7/10 shows listed on a regular basis.
Well, Glee is a musical, which tend to attract certain people over others. It’s interesting since its W 18-34 #’s are bigger than, say, Desperate’s 18-49 #’s (One could say it’s huge with rich white girls, which is the main focus of much of The CW’s shows.). It’s also the only new show in the T10 rated for upscale viewers. And not only the only new show in the T10 in concentration but the #1.
And with its amazing consistency vs. many other shows’ massive drops since premieres, its being Fox’s #2 hourlong (unlike, say, MF’s half hour) despite a weak-lead in as well as the critics’ top new hourlong, and its being a moneymaker on its music as well, I would argue this as the most successful new show of the season.
Of course, one could make a case for NCIS2 since it was sold to syndication, but it’s fallen from its heights and has the show it’s made from as a lead-in.
Hours of scripted TV in the T10: NBC: 1. CBS: 1. Fox: 2. ABC: 3.
Hours of scripted TV with highest indexes: CBS 0.5. Fox: 1. NBC: 2. ABC: 3.
@ Some Guy Named John
I don’t think this is a big problem for shows like NCIS, because its really only intersting for a certain set of advertisers and generally speaking lesser income families usually spend a higher percentage of said income, while wealthier households may save money or buy a house or whatever, but very seldomly just buy a lot more Cheetos. So the interest of big ticket item advertisers might be a saving grace for 30 Rock (although it wasn’t for Boston Legal), but I doubt usually healthy shows like the NCISs or CSIs or Bones are suddenly much worse off for this index.
The highest-index list is really pretty ludicrous if you think about it. If a show has only 1 viewer, and that viewer is 18-49 100k+, then it will have a higher index than any other show. Hence, Parks & Recreation, Community, and some other NBC junk looks good on this scale. One year NBC in their upfronts boasted how they had 5 or 6 shows in their top 10 in this index–yet the second-highest rated such show, “Committed,” big on the slide at Radio City Music “Hall, was cancelled!!
So the index list is great to give a sense as to a show’s specific identity, but it really only matters above a certain threshold of upscale/non-upscale viewers combined.
I love the show but Rashida Jones’s character on parks and recreation is as useless as her character on the office!