Comcast’s Annual “TV Pulse Survey” Shows the Drama Genre and New Hawaii Five-O are the Most-Anticipated ‘What to Watch’ This Fall TV Season

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The fall TV season is nearly here and that means America’s favorite shows will soon be back on the air. With the fall season heating up in the coming weeks, Comcast announced the findings of its second annual “TV Pulse Survey,” an independent nationwide survey* conducted by International Communications Research, that revealed America’s most-anticipated new and returning primetime series. The survey also discovered that more consumers than ever before plan to watch their favorite TV shows anytime, anywhere using time-shifting technologies such as, video-on-demand (VOD), digital video recorders (DVRs) and the Internet.

“The results of our ‘TV Pulse Survey’ underscore more consumers are watching their favorite shows when and how they want to watch them.”

"Time-shifting has hit the mainstream and is changing the way people watch TV,” said Diana Kerekes, Vice President of Entertainment Services for Comcast. “The results of our ‘TV Pulse Survey’ underscore more consumers are watching their favorite shows when and how they want to watch them.”

Time-Shifting

While more than 80 percent of consumers state they regularly watch primetime television, and 80 percent plan to watch it live, consumers are also using time-shifting technologies. More than two-thirds of consumers (62 percent) have watched primetime TV series through technologies that include VOD, DVR and the Internet. Time-shifted viewing is on the rise with 61 percent using these technologies more than one year ago, and 84 percent using them more than just three years ago.

More and more consumers are using various platforms when watching TV, and this fall, they’re planning to turn to a wide variety of time-shifting technologies. Interestingly, among Comcast customers, On Demand usage for watching TV series this fall is significantly more than the average primetime viewer.

National Consumers Planned Viewing This Fall

Live - 80%
DVR - 41%
Online - 17%
On Demand - 16%
Mobile - 1%

Comcast Customers Planned Viewing This Fall

Live - 81%
DVR - 32%
On Demand - 30%
Online - 18%
Mobile - 1%

Top reasons consumers are using time-shifting technologies include personal schedules (79 percent) and programming conflicts (63 percent).

New Fall TV Season Shows

Half of consumers polled (49 percent) say the new fall TV season is important to them. This is especially true among those who are under age 55, are female and have children in the household. “Serious” trumps “smiles” as consumers are most excited to watch:

Dramas (75 percent)
Comedies (68 percent)
Movies (57 percent)
News/Educational (50 percent)
Sports (45 percent)
Reality shows (38 percent)

When asked about several of the new TV series that are creating the most buzz, consumers ranked the following shows in order of preference, including:

Hawaii Five-O (40 percent)
No Ordinary Family (23 percent)
The Event (21 percent)
Nikita (9 percent)
Lone Star (8 percent).

Consumers were also asked to rank the most-anticipated returning shows, including:

The Good Wife (21 percent)
Glee (19 percent)
Modern Family (18 percent)
Mad Men (15 percent)
The Prisoner (13 percent)
Community (9 percent)
Gossip Girl (6 percent)

This fall television season, Comcast customers will have access to all of the highly anticipated shows on multiple platforms including this year’s hot shows such as: Mad Men, Parenthood, The Closer, Dexter and The Good Wife. They can watch live on TV, On Demand, online or by DVR. In an effort to provide even more efficiency, ease, and control for consumers, Comcast subscribers will also be able to go online (XfintyTV.com), set their DVR remotely, and watch on TV.

In the past year, television series have surged to the top viewed category On Demand. Overall, titles available on Comcast On Demand are viewed more than 350 million times each month, and this service offers more than 17,000 choices each month. Viewers can also prepare for the new season by viewing previous seasons and sneak peeks of favorite shows through On Demand on their televisions or through XfinityTV.com. At XfinityTV.com, viewers will find thousands of TV shows, including current hits and timeless favorites. In addition, XfinityTV.com features a dedicated fall TV microsite with previews of new and returning shows, a calendar of premieres, the 25 facts consumers absolutely need to know about the new season, as well as the latest news, interviews, and insider info about TV’s hottest shows and stars from our expert editors.

Primetime Viewing Behavior

Given so many choices, it’s no surprise that of the 80+ percent of consumers that regularly watch primetime, nearly half say they watch or record three to four primetime TV series in a typical week (44 percent). In addition, the majority of viewers plan to watch or record TV during the 8:00 – 10:00 pm timeframe (87 percent between 8:00 – 9:00 pm and 88 percent between 9:00 -10:00 pm).

About Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (www.comcast.com) is one of the nation's leading providers of entertainment, information and communication products and services. With 23.2 million cable customers, 16.4 million high-speed Internet customers, and 8.1 million Comcast Digital Voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.

Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One, 11 regional sports networks operated by Comcast Sports Group and Comcast Interactive Media, which develops and operates Comcast's Internet businesses, including Comcast.net (www.comcast.net). Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast-Spectacor, which owns two professional sports teams, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, and a large, multipurpose arena in Philadelphia, the Wachovia Center, and manages other facilities for sporting events, concerts and other events.

*SURVEY CONDUCTED BY AN INDEPENDENT RESEARCH FIRM, INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH (ICR) ON BEHALF OF COMCAST. NATIONWIDE 1,000 INDIVIDUALS WERE SURVEYED.

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