The Power of LIVE Norman Lear’S LIVE in FRONT of a STUDIO AUDIENCE: ALL in the FAMILY & the JEFFERSONS by Lisa Hollaender

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The Power of LIVE Norman Lear’s LIVE IN FRONT OF A STUDIO AUDIENCE: ALL IN THE FAMILY & THE JEFFERSONS By Lisa Hollaender

“Those were the days…” “Movin’ on Up…” ALL IN THE FAMILY THE JEFFERSONS

The “Power of Live” content in primetime TV is highlighted in the original scripts, still prove that it generates an audience far above and relevant today. Though we’ve come a long beyond regular viewing levels. Sports – way in the last 50 years, listening to the notably, the SUPER BOWL, the NFL, AFC and NFC dialogue of these comedies, may not be as far CHAMPIONSHIPS, and more recently NCAA as we thought. March Madness – are all clear examples of success. In the entertainment realm, “Live” With the success of Norman Lear’s LIVE IN special event productions are good for FRONT OF A STUDIO AUDIENCE: ALL IN THE “stunting” or “one-offs” or as a sequence of live FAMILY & THE JEFFERSONS broadcast (see one-time-only specials to bring new and performance breakouts below), ABC has larger audiences to broadcast television, already announced they intend to turn LIVE IN boosting overall network averages. FRONT OF A STUDIO AUDIENCE into a franchise series of events. Certainly, other networks The newest entry into this elite group of may also be gathering titles for future “engaging content” and the first of its kind, is development in this category. Norman Lear’s re-staging (same characters, same exact script, different actors) of the Katz Television Group conducted a survey iconic sitcom, ALL IN THE FAMILY and its spin- among its proprietary Our Media panel of local off, THE JEFFERSONS. Hosted by the creator media enthusiasts from June 2 – 6, 2019. himself and Jimmy Kimmel, this event starred Across 500 respondents, the Katz study found big names such as Marisa Tomei, Woody that 82% (8 in 10 viewers) of those that Harrelson, Jamie Foxx and Wanda Sykes along watched the event would like to see more. Our with appearances by Will Farrell, Kerry survey utilized an open-ended technique for Washington and Sean Hayes. These classic gathering suggestions for future live series family sitcom episodes from the 1970’s, are not productions, rather than a fixed menu of only known for their theme songs, which options used in other surveys recently reflected the tone of their respective series, but conducted. This provided for a wider range of for their blatant political, socio-economic, user-generated options. Read on for key racial and women’s rights issues. The topics, takeaways.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Ø LIVE IN FRONT OF A STUDIO AUDIENCE: ALL IN THE FAMILY & THE JEFFERSONS was the most watched show on Wednesday, 5/22/19. The event boasted an audience of 10.4 million P2+ viewers nationally, 37% above its strongest competitor and 108% higher than its weakest.

Ø The live rendition of ALL IN THE FAMILY (AIF) & THE JEFFERSONS (JEFF) out-performed the ABC network in primetime on various fronts among total P2+ viewers for the 2018-19 season – versus overall ABC Wed, 5/22/19 average (+33%), regular ABC series (+121%), ABC sports (+126%), overall ABC prime (+136%) and ABC movies and specials (+160%). The one place it underdelivered (-29%) was against other ABC live events like the OSCARS.

Ø Based on the Katz Our Media study of 500 TV viewers,

Ø 82% of those who viewed the Live Norman Lear special have an appetite for Live TV Events like ALL IN THE FAMILY & THE JEFFERSONS.

Ø M*A*S*H (10%) and HAPPY DAYS (7%) are the leading candidates for the next “live televised” series event, followed closely by CHEERS (6%), FRIENDS (5%), SEINFELD (4%), and classic sitcom, I LOVE LUCY (5%).

Ø 75% of viewers found the issues discussed on the TV special (race, women's rights, etc.) to be as relevant today as they were back when the shows originally aired.

Ø Versus Katz’s most-updated “Power of Live” content meter for the 2018-19 season, the new ALL IN THE FAMILY/JEFFERSONS ranked 6th of all live events and 6% above the average (9.8 million).

Ø Of the 10 LIVE series episodes Katz compared it to, ALL IN THE FAMILY & THE JEFFERSONS 10.4 million viewers placed 5th, right in the middle of the pack below three DREW CAREY episodes on ABC and ROC on FOX.

Ø Compared to live musical specials, ALL IN THE FAMILY & THE JEFFERSONS placed mid-way, 4th out of eight options among P2+ viewers and A25-54 rating and share (2.7/11). If we look at younger adults, AIF/JEFF was the lowest rated among the live musicals in A18-34 rating (0.7), tied for the second lowest performance in A18-49 (1.7/9) with JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (1.7/7).

Katz Media Group - Our Media Panel Study

Katz Television Group conducted a survey among its proprietary Our Media panel of local media enthusiasts from June 2 – 6, 2019. The online survey utilized an open-ended technique for gathering viewers suggestions for future live series productions, rather than a fixed menu of options used in other surveys recently conducted. This provided for a wider range of user-generated options. In total, 500 respondents from DMA’s across the U.S. participated in the survey,

Do Viewers Want More of these “re-staged Classic Sitcoms”?

§ According to the Katz TV Our Media Study, there is an appetite for live TV events. 82% (8 in 10 viewers) of the people who watched LIVE IN FRONT OF A STUDIO AUDIENCE: ALL IN THE FAMILY & THE JEFFERSONS are interested in seeing more "live televised" events like it in the future.

§ 75% of ALL IN THE FAMILY/JEFFERSON viewers found find the issues discussed on the sitcom (racial, social, economic and women's rights) are as relevant today as they were in the ‘70s.

What are the leading candidates that viewers would like to see “honored” as the next “live televised” event?

§ The Katz Study found that classics like M*A*S*H and HAPPY DAYS are the leading candidates for the next “live televised” event treated in the same way as ALL IN THE FAMILY & THE JEFFERSONS. Other contenders included the classic series I LOVE LUCY and “newer classics”, CHEERS, FRIENDS and SEINFELD.

M*A*S*H 10% Happy Days 7% Cheers 6% Friends 5% Seinfeld 4% I Love Lucy 3% The Brady Bunch 2% Sanford & Son 2% Gilligan's Island 2% Golden Girls 2% Three's Company 2%

National Performance Katz’s Content Strategy team evaluated ABC’s Normal Lear special against several competitive scenarios: Ø Head-to-Head Competition Ø ABC 2018-19 Primetime – Regular Series, Sports. Overall Prime, Specials & Movies, Live Events Ø Katz’s Ongoing “Power of Live” Content Meter Ø Live Sitcom Episodes and Live Musicals

Versus Wednesday, 5/22/19 Primetime Competitors

LIVE IN FRONT OF A STUDIO AUDIENCE: ALL IN THE FAMILY & THE JEFFERSONS was the most watched show of the night. The event boasted an audience of 10.4 million P2+ viewers nationally, +37% above its strongest competitor (CHICAGO MED and CHICAGO FIRE season finales on NBC-7.6 and 7.5 million-respectively) and +108% higher than its weakest (JANE THE VIRGIN and MY LAST DAYS on the CW).

Up against strong competition from the NBC CHICAGO finales, the live re-staging of the popular and well-rated ‘70s sitcoms also achieved top billing in HH NTI’s (6.4/13) as well as across A18-49 (1.8/9) and A25-54 (2.7/11). Even with the adult demographics broken out by women and men, the program finished first for the night.

Breaking it down, there was a very slight decline from the 8PM half-hour (10.7 million) to 8:30PM (10.5 million) to 9PM (10.2 million) and then another drop-off at 9:30PM for the NL: ALL IN THE FAM/JEFF after show (7.8 million). The after show still performed above all other programming for the night in total viewers.

Versus ABC 2018-19 Primetime Categories

The live rendition of ALL IN THE FAMILY (AIF) & THE JEFFERSONS (JEFF) out-performed the ABC network in primetime on various fronts among P2+ viewers.

Ø AIF/JEFF’s 10.4 million P2+ was above Ø AIF/JEFF was +136% above ABC’s overall ABC’s overall primetime average for Primetime season average (4.4 the night by +33%. million).

Ø AIF/JEFF was +121% above ABC’s Ø AIF/JEFF was +160% above ABC’s REGULAR SERIES average for the 2018-19 regular SPECIALS & MOVIES season season by +121% (4.7 million). average (4.0 million).

Ø AIF/JEFF was +126% above ABC’s Ø The one area AIF/JEFF underperformed Primetime SPORTS average for the was versus ABC LIVE EVENTS (13.4 season (4.6 million). million) average. It was off by -29% (keep in mind the OSCARS and its LIVE FROM THE RED-CARPET pre-show was included in this average).

Versus THE POWER OF LIVE CONTENT Meter

In reviewing our most-updated “Power of Live” content meter for the 2018-19 season, the new ALL IN THE FAMILY/JEFFERSONS live rendition ranked 6th of all live events, after the OSCARS, GRAMMYS, GOLDEN GLOBES, LIVE FROM THE RED CARPET-3 and PRIMETIME NYRE ’19-PT2, 6% above the average 9.8 million.

If we compare the AIF/JEFF to everything that ran in primetime (live events, sports, specials, regular series), it ranked 28th in P2+.

Versus Other LIVE SITCOMS EPISODES & LIVE MUSICALS

Sitcoms do not generally air live, even though they may be taped in front of a live audience and broadcast later – hence finding recent comparisons was not fruitful. We had to go back further where there wasn’t as much competition from other viewing sources. As mentioned earlier, sustaining these live productions is great for “one-offs”, stunt programming or a series of live OTO’s, but not for the season.

Of the 10 live series episodes we compared it to, ALL IN THE FAMILY & THE JEFFERSONS 10.4 million viewers placed 5th, right in the middle of the pack below three DREW CAREY episodes on ABC and ROC on FOX.

Ø The DREW CAREY episodes garnered 19.1 2005 and 2006, which earned 9.8 million million total viewers in 1999, 15.2 in 2000 and 9.7 million viewers, respectively, and a and 10.5 in 2001. couple of 30 ROCK episodes in 2010 (6.7 million) and 2012 (only 3.4 million). Ø ROC’s live episode on 2/16/92 delivered 16.4 million total viewers, making way for Ø The most recent example was in 2015 the cast of “stage” actors to do one full where NBC’s UNDATEABLE aired an hour season of live episodes for year two. While long live episode that only posted 4.2 it had a slight uptick, it was not enough to million total viewers in May of 2015. Like sustain another season of live episodes ROC, the series went on to do a full season and went back to being taped. of live episodes (mostly all-stand-up comedian cast), but it was its last season Ø NBC threw its hat in the ring in with a on the air. couple of WILL & GRACE live episodes in

Compared to the live musical specials, most of which aired on NBC, ALL IN THE FAMILY & THE JEFFERSONS placed mid-way, 4th out of eight options among P2+ viewers and A25-54 rating and share (2.7/11). If we look at the younger adults, AIF/JEFF was the lowest rated among the live musicals in A18-34 rating (0.7), tied for the second lowest performance in A18-49 (1.7/9) with JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (1.7/7).

Ø THE SOUND OF MUSIC LIVE! on NBC, the first Ø The closest air date (4/1/18) was for JESUS in this decade to be produced for live CHRIST SUPERSTAR LIVE! also on NBC, which television, aired in December of 2013 and achieved 9.6 million to AIF/JEFF’s 10.4 was the highest ranked among P2+ (18.6 million. million). Ø If we look at the younger adults, AIF/JEFF Ø GREASE: LIVE on FOX (1/31/16) delivered 12.2 was the lowest rated among the live million viewers at #2 and THE WIZ LIVE! on musicals in A18-34 rating (0.7), tied for the NBC (12/3/15) garnered 11.5 million viewers second lowest performance in A18-49 (1.7) at #3. with JCS.