ALVISO, Calif., Oct 04, 2007 As the new fall television programming commences, TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in advertising solutions and television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), reports that Private Practice and Bionic Woman were the only two premiere shows that penetrated TiVo’s Top 50 Season Passes, ranking at #18 and #43 respectively.
TiVo’s Season Pass(TM) feature allows subscribers to regularly record their favorite shows each time the program airs regardless of the time, while automatically skipping repeats and without the use of tapes or timers.
“Premiere week’s TiVo Season Pass results serve as an indication of early marketing success and buzz generation, as well as the public’s overall appetite for these shows,” said Todd Juenger, Vice President & General Manager, TiVo Audience Research & Measurement. “Although subscriber behavior habitually begins slowly — some are slow to add a new show to Season Pass and may sample it for a few weeks before making that commitment — Private Practice and Bionic Woman, two highly anticipated shows, opened with high expectations from a confident audience.”
According to Mr. Juenger, these initial rankings are not a harbinger of a program’s ultimate success and noted that last year, the highest ranked new program on the Season Pass list was Studio 60 until it was overtaken mid-season by Heroes (which went on to crack the Top 10 and currently sits at #6).
Top 10 Season Passes & Season Premieres
2007 Rank
1 Grey’s Anatomy
2 Desperate Housewives
3 House
4 Lost
5 CSI
6 Heroes
7 American Idol
8 24
9 The Office
10 CSI: Miami
18 Private Practice
43 Bionic Woman
54 Journeyman
55 Dirty Sexy Money
65 Back to You
70 Cane
75 Chuck
76 The War
89 Kid Nation
95 Big Shots
2006 Rank
1 Grey’s Anatomy
2 Desperate Housewives
3 CSI
4 Lost
5 House
6 Survivor: Cook Islands
7 American Idol
8 24
9 Oprah
10 CSI: Miami
12 Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
64 Jericho
72 Shark
79 Six Degrees
80 Men in Trees
84 Kidnapped
85 Heroes
99 The New Adventures of Old Christine
— Top 10 are largely the same year over year, in a slightly different
order.
— Note Heroes is at #6 this year after the show debuted on the list at
#85 last year.
— Last year Studio 60 was #12, at the top of the new show list.
— Heroes ultimately surpassed Studio 60 as the breakout hit of the
season, proving that early popularity on the Top 50 Season Pass list
does not necessarily guarantee long-term success.
— Lost and American Idol, two shows that won’t air until next year, are
still #4 and #7, respectively.
