"The weather is absolutely crucial. It decides whether the viewer has the opportunity and the need to sit in front of the TV or other receiver, or whether he or she prefers to take a walk outside in good weather, sit in the garden with a beer. If the weather is nice outside, it almost - with emphasis on this word - doesn't matter what you plan to broadcast," Petr Miláček, director of analysis at the Prima TV group, summed up the importance of the weather for broadcasters.
Weather is also directly involved in peoplemetric data. "So we mainly see that lower temperatures and higher rainfall correlate with higher TV station attendance, higher overall viewership," Miláček added.
"The highest average viewership is in the winter months (December to February). That is why series that start at the beginning of the year have a higher viewership compared to series that start, for example, in September or April, when the overall TV viewership is at a lower level than in January," added public television spokeswoman Vendula Krejčová.
"Both series have excellent audience ratings, high internet ratings and above-average quality parameters, so if they were hypothetically put on air from January like the previous series, they would almost certainly have comparable ratings to the previous series," Krejčová added.
She also illustrated the effect of weather on viewership by looking at the relationship between average temperature and viewership. Generally, the nicer the weather, the fewer viewers in front of the screen, but there are more of these influences on viewer behaviour.
"For example, in September 2023 and February to May 2024, the average temperature was significantly higher than in the comparable period of the previous year. There is evidence of a reduction in average viewing in these months, for example, in September 2023 adult viewership in the 15+ category fell by 18 minutes per day compared to September 2022 when the average temperature was 4.5 degrees lower than in September 2023," the spokesperson added.
Sports broadcasts are bucking this trend
She added that the period from February to May this year was similarly above average in temperature. "When we register a drop in average TV viewing by seven to 16 minutes a day, only in May, thanks to the World Cup and the extraordinary performances of the Czech national team, did viewing, on the contrary, increase slightly year-on-year," Krejčová said.
The effect of weather on TV ratings is also monitored at Nova and it turns out that people prefer to be outside in good weather rather than in front of a screen. "However, live sports broadcasts or newscasts, which viewers prefer to watch in real time, are out of this trend," pointed out Tereza Žižková from the Nova press department.
"This year was really extreme in this respect. Just like every year, we have the heart of a national team fan and the view of a professional who sees that big sporting events with Czech participation negatively affect the viewership of our programmes and stations. It is also interesting that some smaller channels focused on women hardly felt the impact of the World Cup," Miláček added on behalf of Prima.
The calendar and daily rhythm is also crucial
However, the average time viewers spend in front of their TV screens also changes throughout the year. "In 2023, adult viewers in the 15+ group watched an average of 3 hours 37 minutes a day. Viewership is typically highest in the winter months from December to February, when it exceeds four hours. Conversely, the lowest viewing figures tend to be in the summer months from June to August, when people are away from home more due to holidays, warmer weather and longer days," the CT spokesperson added.
Czech Television's highest viewing figures are recorded at weekends and especially on Sundays. "When viewership among adult viewers 15+ exceeded four and a quarter hours in the first half of this year. On weekdays from Monday to Friday, the average viewership fluctuates only slightly, the average for the first half of this year is three and a half hours," she calculated.
Another factor affecting viewership is the daily rhythm and where the viewer lives. According to Prima's data, viewership differs in urban and rural areas. "There are indeed differences due to the daily rhythm. In cities, people wake up about an hour later and go to bed later, so the weather also affects viewership later in the evening - especially in summer," Miláček said.
He added that the weather mainly affects how many people come to the TV at all. "Of course we see that viewers always come to our most popular shows, but the question is how many. Apart from the influence of the weather, it should be stressed that viewers also watch other channels, which have a major impact on viewership," he reminded.
Tereza Žižková from Nova reminded that with the advent of new technologies the influence of weather is fading. "In fact, viewers can watch their favourite programmes, for example, through reruns or on Voyo. Thus, everyone can watch TV anytime and anywhere, which contributes to the stability of viewing," she said.
"As TV groups, we are simply fighting for those viewers who choose to watch TV. Their choice of shows is much more influenced by their needs, the day of the week, who specifically is sitting in front of the TV (wife and kids, husband or alone) and a number of other factors than the weather. We have not yet traced the correlation between the weather and the choice of programmes - unless there are extremes, such as floods," concluded the director of analysis of the Prima Group.
Source: idnes.cz
